Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has suggested that vehicles with odd and even number plates in the state ply on alternate days of the week. On days that a car with an odd or even number plate is disqualified from plying, the rider is supposed to take public transport. This is a sociological absurdity.
There are broadly two kinds of people: those who use their own vehicles and those who take public transport. The odd-even rule would push people to buy another car with the appropriate number plate, assuming they do not fake number plates. This would potentially double the number of vehicles plying in the already choked lanes and by-lanes, leading to an enormous pathology of fights, murder and mayhem over parking. Also, the lanes would be packed with cars on the kerbs even during office hours - the time of the day when there is usually some sanity in a locality.
Some people may avail of app-based cabs or a surfeit of such commercial vehicles in the city. Apart from a major, even unaffordable, expense for commuters, there would be more taxis on the roads, leaving us much in the same position as we are now in terms of the number of vehicles on the roads.
Public transport is a living hell for women. One of the reasons why I educated myself was to be able to get a job that would make it affordable for me to buy a car so that I would not have to undergo the humiliation of being grabbed and pinched by men in public spaces. This apart, taking public transport would add two more hours of daily commute for those living on the outskirts of Delhi.
I beseech the Delhi government to abandon the odd-even rule that disadvantages people who own cars and appeases the lobbies of car makers and taxi and auto-rickshaw operators. What is being touted as a step to control air pollution runs the risk of exacerbating it.
Susmita Dasgupta, Faridabad
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