'Odd-Even vehicle rule may return in Delhi'

In a bid to curb the rising pollution in Delhi, Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot has said that public transport system should be fully geared up to handle increased footfall in case the Odd-Even scheme is implemented.

In 2016, the rationing scheme was implemented twice for a period of 15 days each - from January 1-15 and April 15-30.

The minister on Wednesday wrote to the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) and senior officials of his ministry, asking them to be "fully geared up" for implementation of the odd- even scheme

"With increase in pollution level in Delhi, Governmentt may have to resort to emergency measures including odd/even scheme," Gahlot said.

"So its essential that Transport Departments such as DTC/DIMTS are fully geared up for implementation of the scheme as and when announced," he added.

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.

A major challenge in implementing the scheme is poor public transport facilities, despite a well developed Delhi Metro network.

The DTC has a fleet of around 4,000 buses, while the Delhi Integrated Multimodal Transit System (DIMTS) runs over 1,600 buses under the cluster scheme. Experts estimate that the city needs about 11,000 buses to cover all areas.

OneIndia News with PTI inputs