The Delhi government must opt for the concept of “last-digit rationing” for automobiles rather than the odd-even policy currently on for a more robust and lasting impact on pollution, the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has said.
The ‘last digit automobile rationing’ of vehicles means the number plates of vehicles ending with 1 will not be allowed to ply on roads on the 1st, 11th, 21st and 31st of a month. Those with number 2 cannot ply on the 2nd, 12th and 22nd, the chamber said. “We suggest ‘last digit rationing’ should be done for every digit covering all vehicles – cars, two-wheelers, taxis, which include large numbers of diesel SUVs and commercial vehicles, other than vehicles on CNG, buses, ambulances, fire brigade and police vehicles."
The CII said a study conducted by it showed that if a vehicle runs for 10 km daily for 365 days, then it will emit 9.4 lakh grams of carbon-dioxide. If all registered vehicles in Delhi run for 10 km for 365 days, they will emit 1.28 million tonnes into the Capital’s environment.
Then, if the odd-even scheme – only applicable to non-CNG private cars – is implemented for 15 days every quarter, or a total of 60 days in a year, then the total reduction in emission would be 4,823 tonnes, which is 0.37 percent of the total emission in the year.