Gadkari assures full support to odd-even scheme

Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari on Tuesday assured his “full support” to Delhi’s second phase of the odd-even traffic scheme to be implemented from April 15 to 30.

He gave the assurance to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal when the latter called on the Union minister and urged him to back the scheme aimed at battling pollution.

Gadkari assured “full support” to the Delhi government in the fight against pollution, a Delhi government official said.

The minister also said the Central government would invest Rs 30,000 crore to decongest the National Capital Region (NCR).

Gadkari said eight elevated roads would be built to directly connect Ring Road with NCR, the official said.

Kejriwal, accompanied by Delhi’s Transport Minister Gopal Rai, also urged Gadkari to extend the last date for registration of e-rickshaws by six months. The last date was March 31.

“The Chief Minister discussed several issues with Gadkari including odd-even and extension of date for registration of e-rickshaws. He also sought Gadkari’s support to improve the traffic situation,” said the official. Under the odd-even scheme, petrol and diesel driven vehicles with odd registration numbers will ply on odd dates and those with even registration numbers on even dates. The scheme is not applicable to CNG vehicles, two-wheelers, women motorists, cars carrying school children in uniform and several kinds of VIPs. 

Meanwhile, in a bid to spread awareness among commuters to take to its network during the AAP government’s second phase of car curbs scheme from April 15, the Delhi Metro started flashing ‘odd-even’ messages on the electronic information screen boards at station platforms. 

At Barakhamba Road Metro station electronic information screens were seen flashing “odd-even from 15-30 April” message. Even Delhi Transport Corporation buses are publicising the car curbs scheme by displaying “odd-even phase 2 from April 15” on their screens.

Officials with the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) said the initiative is aimed at encouraging people to use its network during the road rationing scheme. 

“The DMRC has been running trains on an increased frequency since the first phase of the car curbs scheme from January 1 to 15. Like the first phase, the Delhi Metro will press into service the maximum number of trains possible during the second phase of the odd-even plan keeping the essential ones as reserve,” said an official.

“Lines and stations will be monitored by control rooms and necessary action will be taken to ensure that crowd do not build up at Ticket Vending Machines and security frisking areas,” the official added.

According to the DMRC, manpower will also be increased to handle calls on its helpline number 155370. “Additional personnel will be deployed to handle the increased load on the ticketing system during the 15-day period,” he said. The DMRC had deployed additional guards and customer facilitation agents at major metro stations to help and guide commuters during the 15-day period in January.

The Delhi Metro’s entire network saw a total footfall of 26 lakh to 30 lakh passengers every day between January 1 and 15. The DMRC ran 365 additional trips to handle the passenger rush every day during road rationing plan.  The DMRC had used 198 trains daily to achieve these trips.

During the last car curb campaign, the DMRC ran approximately 3,192 trips a day against 2,827 trips in the corresponding period in January, 2015, the official added.