NGT okays odd-even rule, says only emergency vehicles exempted

New Delhi, Nov 11 : The National Green Tribunal on Saturday gave the go ahead to the odd-even vehicle rationing scheme from November 13-17 and said there will be no exemption for anyone including women, two-wheelers and government servants except for Emergency vehicles.

It also said that in future the odd-even scheme will automatically come into force if the PM2.5 level goes above 300 and PM10 crosses the 500 mark.

The NGT ruled that only emergency vehicles will be exempted.

"The NGT today in its order said odd-even will implement automatically if the PM2.5 level goes above 300 and PM10 level goes above 500," Rajiv Bansal, counsel representing DDA, told reporters after the hearing.

"The tribunal also said that no VIP vehicles, government officials or women will be spared under this scheme," he said.

"Only emergency vehicles like fire brigade, ambulances and solid waste carrying vehicles will be allowed," he said.

The safe limit for PM2.5 and PM10 as per international standards is 25 and 60 microgrammes per cubic meters, while as per national standards it is 40 and 100 units respectively.