As Delhi AQI shoots up, SC says schemes like odd-even for vehicles are mere optics
Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan governments to take steps to stop stubble burning.
Following a meeting chaired by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, it was announced that schools in the capital city have been directed to suspend physical classes, except for classes 10 and 12, until November 10 while the odd-even car rationing system will be enforced from November 13 to 20.
The SC also came down hard on the tackling of stubble burning across north Indian states. «We want it (stubble burning) stopped.
We don't know how you do it, it’s your job. But it must be stopped.
Something has to be done immediately,” SC told the Punjab government. The top court has posted the air pollution matter for hearing on Friday, November 10.
In anticipation of a further decline in air quality following Diwali, the Delhi government has reintroduced the odd-even vehicle rationing system after a four-year hiatus.
According to a 2018 study by The Energy and Resources Institute, approximately 40 percent of PM 2.5 pollution in the capital is attributed to vehicular emissions. The odd-even system, first introduced in Delhi in 2016, permits vehicles with license plate numbers ending in even digits (0, 2, 4, 6, 8) to operate on even dates and those ending in odd digits (1, 3, 5, 7, 9) on odd dates.
When the odd-even was implemented in the past, emergency and police vehicles, two-wheelers, cars driven by women and vehicles ferrying school children and VIPs were exempted.
Thick clouds of smog shrouded parts of the national capital as the air quality across the metropolitan city continued to remain in 'severe' category on Tuesday, CPCB data showed.
