Some restrictions are implemented to be better in life, and there are some restrictions are there just to inflict pain in your life – and somehow Delhi’s Odd-Even Traffic rule is both at the same time. With a motive to curb the pollution levels of Delhi and to make the air quality of Delhi better – Delhi Govenment introduced Odd-Even traffic rule in January which was a huge success.

 

But things went south as the second phase of Odd-Even rule came into action from April 15 to April 30. Delhi’s Air Pollution levels rose almost 23% during this period when compared to the first 14 days of the month. The report has been generated by IndiaSpend’s #Breathe air-quality monitoring devices after studying the PM (particulate matter) 2.5 data.

From April 15 to April 29 the average PM 2.5 concentration in Delhi’s air was 68.98 micrograms per cubic metre (µg/m³) which indicates a “moderate” conditions. The air quality between April 1 and April 14 was recorded at an “average” of 56.17µg/m³. 

Similarly, average PM 10 concentration before the odd-even period, i.e. April 1 to April 15 was 110.04 µg/m³, which rose to 22% into the odd-even phase - 134.39µg/m³ indicating ‘moderate’ air quality. 

The hourly analysis of averages of PM 2.5 hints that, monings of Delhi, around 7am, was the worst time as air pollution levels showed “Poor” air quality at 124.3μg/m3. This is showed a staggering increase of 31% from the levels of air pollutions that were recorded from April 1 to April 14.

Delhi’s evenings, around 5pm, was the best time to breathe during Odd-Even phase. The PM 2.5 levels recorded at 21μg/m3 indicating “good” air quality.

Likewise, the PM 10 levels in Delhi during 7 am were 243.967μg/m3 which indicated “moderate” conditions during Odd-Even phase. These levels rose 36% i.e. 179.7 µg/m³ at 7 am recorded on hourly averages from April 1 to April 14.

PM 10 and PM 2.5 include breathable pollutants that are small enough to infiltrate the thoracic region of the body. The health ill-effects of breathing PM are well noted – be it the exposure over short-term (hours, days) or long-term (months, years). They include: Respiratory and cardiovascular illness such as asthma, respiratory symptoms and transience from cardiovascular and respiratory diseases and from lung cancer.

Growth in Delhi’s vehicles, and less usage of DTC buses

A research paper from Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad states that there are as much as 670000 deaths in India due to outdoor Air Pollution.

Odd-Even 2.0 reported a total number of 5814 violators which is less than the last time. In January 6768 violators were reported. The fine is of Rs.2000.

Boosting bus services is key to sustaining the odd-even system. But there has been a fall in the ridership of the public transport buses. The decline is as much as 11% in the last financial year and 24% decline in the ridership has been recorded in the last 5 years.

8.8 million Motor vehicles were recorded in Delhi as on March 31, 2015. There is an increase of more than 6% over the previous year. Even the Two-wheelers showed a rampant reported a growth of over 7% in 2014-15.

Odd-Even Traffic Rules in various parts of the World

In 1989, Mexico City implemented a temporal rule called – Hoy No Circula or No Circulation Day, similar to Delhi’s Odd-Even. The trial period showed a steady decrease in the number of vehicles on road. Due to this the fuel consumption was decreased and subway ridership rose to 6.6%.

The helped to reduce the pollution levels by 11% in the initial days but as soon as the rule become permanent – People started to buy secondary vehicles, resulting in steady increase in pollution levels.

Likewise in Paris this rule was imposed for one day in 1997 and in March 2014. Before the 2008 Summer Olympics, Beijing applied a similar temporary scheme – this helped the city to clean its air and relieving traffic congestion.

Who to Blame?

Odd-Even rule alone cannot bring down the pollution levels of the city. Capping of Delhi’s industrial areas is also needed to bring down the pollution levels.Odd-Evenst Odd Even was successful because of active participation of people of Delhi. During Odd-Even 2.0 the Indraprastha Gas Ltd recorded highest CNG sale of 26.7 lakh in a single day.

Another incident that happened in Delhi was a 3-week fire at Delhi’s largest garbage dump at Bhalaswa. Fires at garbage dump is done to ensure the decomposition of the garbage and to stop the methane gas generation. But the continuous buning of garbage is also a facilitator to the increased level of pollution in the country.

The Odd-Even scheme was a boon for the daily commuter as less traffic was observed during the ruling. But leaning from other cities in the world can come in handy as how beneficial this ruling is, it is definitely not a permanent solution.

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