New Delhi: Delhi’s Environment Minister Gopal Rai said on Monday that the odd-pair scheme will be implemented in the national capital only if the rest of the methods to curb air pollution fail.
“We have implemented the odd-pair scheme many times in Delhi. It would be our last resort and we will think about its implementation if the rest of the methods to curb air pollution fail,” Rai said when asked about the plans of the government of the AAP for odd-even scheme.
Air quality in the national capital was recorded in the “poor” category on Monday morning, even as pollution levels dropped slightly due to favorable wind speeds.
However, the proportion of stubble burning in the city’s pollution is likely to increase, according to the Ministry of Earth Sciences Air Quality Early Warning System for Delhi.
On Sunday, a central government agency reported 1,230 agricultural fires in Delhi’s neighboring states, the highest in a day so far this season.
The proportion of stubble burning in Delhi’s PM2.5 pollution was 17 percent on Sunday. It was 19 percent on Saturday, 18 percent on Friday, about 1 percent on Wednesday, and about 3 percent on Tuesdays, Mondays, and Sundays.
The city posted an Air Quality Index (AQI) of 232 at 8:45 a.m. Monday. The 24-hour average AQI was 254 on Sunday. 287 on Saturday, 239 on Friday and 315 on Thursday, the worst since February 12 (AQI 320).
An AQI between 0 and 50 is considered ‘good’, 51 and 100 ‘satisfactory’, 101 and 200 ‘moderate’, 201 and 300 ‘poor’, 301 and 400 ‘very poor’ and 401 and 500 ‘severe’.
The Delhi government’s odd-even scheme is a traffic rationing measure whereby private vehicles with registration numbers ending with an odd digit will be allowed on the roads on odd dates and those with an even digit on even dates. The plan was first implemented by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in 2016.
With PTI inputs
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