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Ecology & Environment
Mahesh

07/11/23 09:27 AM IST

Odd-even scheme back in Delhi

In News
  • The Delhi government has announced the return of the odd-even road apportioning scheme for a week beginning the morning after Diwali, when the already “severe” and “severe plus” air pollution may be expected to get even worse.
Odd- Even Scheme
  • When odd-even is in force, cars can ply only on alternate days, based on their registration number.
  • So, cars with numbers ending in an odd digit will be allowed on the street on odd dates (November 13, 15, 17, and 19), and those with numbers ending in an even digit will be allowed on even dates (November 14, 16, 18, and 20).
  • The idea is to cut the number of cars on the road by roughly half which, the Delhi government hopes, will bring down AQI levels somewhat.
  • The scheme was tried out twice in 2016, and then in 2019.
  • Several categories of vehicles were exempt, including taxis (which are CNG-run), cars driven by women (for considerations of safety), electric and hybrid vehicles, and all two-wheelers. The details of the new scheme have not been announced yet.
  • There are an estimated 75 lakh active Delhi-registered vehicles currently, about a third of which are cars.
  • The odd-even scheme would, therefore, mean that about 12.5 lakh cars would go off the roads each day, not considering electrics and hybrids.
  • About 20 lakh vehicles that are registered in the NCR cities or elsewhere also ply in Delhi.
  • As on March 31, 2022, the number of registered “cars and jeeps” in Delhi was 20,57,657, and the number of “motor cycles and scooters” was 51,35,821.
  • The rest of the total 77,39,369 vehicles were made up by autorickshaws, taxis, buses, goods vehicles and tractors, etc.
To what extent are vehicular emissions responsible for Delhi’s bad air?
  • There are multiple reasons behind the current crisis.
  • Delhi is situated in a shallow atmospheric ‘bowl’, in which pollutants are trapped easily.
  • When combined with falling temperatures and slow wind speeds, pollutants in the air are not dissipated, and tend to hang low over the surface, causing Delhi’s infamous smog.
  • Adding to this is the smoke from the countless fires that burn across Punjab and Haryana at this time as farmers, rushing to prepare their fields for the rabi crop, set fire to the stubble that is left in the fields after the kharif crop has been harvested.
  • While sources of pollution like vehicular emissions or road dust are present round the year, the farm fires and atmospheric conditions around Diwali act as force multipliers.
  • A study by the environment and climate change think tank Centre for Science and Environment, (CSE) found that at their peak in past years, farm fires contributed to 40% of the PM 2.5 concentration in the air.
  • This year, on November 3, 4, and 5, the daily mean contribution from biomass burning to the PM 2.5 concentration in Delhi was 35%, 20%, and 21% respectively, according to Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology data.
  • Vehicles also emit other pollutants such as NO2, and the CSE estimates that levels of the gas this year are up by as much as 60% compared to the same time last year.
Impact of Odd even Scheme
  • Odd-even as a way to bring down air pollution has been tried in some form in cities in China, Mexico, and France as well.
  • The average AQI in Delhi between October 23 and November 3, 2019, before the implementation of odd-even, was 369.5.
  • During odd-even, from November 4-15, the average AQI was 328.5 — a 41-point reduction. In the same period, AQI in Gurgaon went up by 7.6 points, and showed small reductions in Noida (12.3 points) and Ghaziabad (13.6 points).
  • As air quality depends on so many different factors, it is not easy to say what the effect one action such as odd-even has.
  • For instance, on the first day that odd-even was implemented, strong winds were seen in the city… A significant reduction in AQI was noticed.
Source- Indian Express

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