 "elhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal addresses a press conference at old secretariat")
The odd-even road rationing scheme aimed at curbing pollution will be back in Delhi from April 15 to 30, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced on Thursday.
"We are seriously considering if we can do this for 15 days every month," Kejriwal said. "We can't do this on a permanent basis until we get better public transport." The CM said his plans had overwhelming public support and were necessary to rein in the rising levels of air pollution. The new proposal follows a two-week trial at the beginning of January that took more than a million cars off the roads each day.
While two-wheelers and women motorists would continue to be exempted, Kejriwal "requested VIPs to follow" the system. "The more the VIPs follow it voluntarily, it will be good," he said.
The government is procuring 3,000 new buses, including 1,000 luxury ones, which will be fielded by December.
The Kejriwal government is planning to build elevated bus rapid transit (BRT) corridors to decongest Delhi roads. He said the government will make two-tier elevated roads - one for the buses and the second for cars. "Government is planning to construct two-tier elevated roads, one for the BRT corridor and other for the expressway to facilitate motorists," Kejriwal told reporters.
The city government has around 1,260 km of roads and several drains under its jurisdiction. Delhi Public Works Department Minister Satyender Jain said it would take about three years to build the elevated roads. "The last phase of odd-even did not really shift people to Metro - it encouraged car pooling. If cars have to get off the roads, it can only be done by creating better public transport networks - which, in turn, need more roads," said Kejriwal.
Kejriwal said public health and education will continue to be key focus of his government. Talking to journalists on the completion of the government's one year in office, he said a three-level structure of health infrastructure was being built in Delhi that will comprise mohalla clinics (primary health), poly clinics and then super speciality hospitals. Kejriwal said from February 1, his government had started supply of free medicines to the poor and 50 diagnostic tests are available to them without any payment.
There will be 1,000 mohalla clinics that will provide treatment to people almost at their doors and 100 or 150 poly clinics opened by the end of the year. He said the medical superintendents of hospitals have been empowered to recruit former defence service personnel to be put in charge of cleanliness and security so that doctors will be free to do medical work. The government was also considering introducing a comprehensive health card system covering all the population so that medical data is available for all.
Similarly, on education front, focus will be on building toilets and improving their upkeep and provision of drinking water in government schools. Of the 1,100 schools, 54 have been picked up for being spruced up. Based on the experiences from these schools, the government will do it for all 1,100 schools by next year.
He said the government was also planning to initiate steps for starting a skill university and a sports university for job-oriented higher education for children coming out of schools.
On electricity, Kejriwal said if a Comptroller and Auditor General of India's report containing various recommendations is implemented then the power costs would come down considerably. Of the demand of 5,000 mw of power the capital needs, half of it costs Rs 5 to 7 per unit, most of it from central utility NTPC. "We told the Centre allow us to cancel the contracts with NTPC.
But the Centre has rejected this. In the last 10 years, under Sheila Dikshit agreements were signed which has made power costly," he said. AAP government would also want to have long-term contracts but it should be allowed to negotiate on its own from different sources. The subsidy on power is Rs 1,400 crore a year while on water it is about Rs 150 crore.
