Odd-even: Public transport faces test on working day

New Delhi, Jan 4: Crowded buses and metros marked the first few hours of the implementation of the 'odd-even' scheme today, while roads had cars with largely even-number registration plates and an augmented number of traffic police men and volunteers.

The Delhi government yesterday announced a series of measures to meet the "real challenge" of the enforcement of the car rationing scheme on a full-fledged working day as part of which additional number of buses have been fielded.

Indicating its willingness to clamp down on violators, the government asked the volunteers, comprising Civil Defence, NCC and NSS cadets, to take snaps of errant motorists and installed hidden cameras at various locations. Meanwhile, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, who has an odd-numbered car, cycled to office. He had done the same on Saturday.

The government said that DTC would possibly ferry around 64 lakh commuters today, much more than the usual figures, while Metro is expected to carry 32 lakh commuters. Additional 100 teams of traffic police have been deployed to ensure the enforcement of the scheme that will stay in force till January 15, on weekdays from 8 AM to 8 PM.

Besides, 66 teams of transport department which were working in two shifts of 33 teams each will be working from morning to evening and a special squad of 100 buses will give additional service in four zones with 25 buses each.

Apart from this, 1,000 school buses of DTC have also been roped in, considering the natural escalation in number of commuters, Transport Minister Gopal Rai minister said. Rai yesterday informed that there have been 567 challans so far by all the concerned agencies and 348 autos have been booked for refusing to ply.

PTI