Anti-pollution curbs only if public transport robust: Kejriwal

The Delhi government can impose some restrictions on people to fight air pollution once the public transport system is strengthened, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said today.

During a programme here, Kejriwal dropped a hint that the government may levy congestion charge on car users after a robust public transport system is put in place in the national capital.

"We have to strengthen the public transport first in such a manner that if we make travel by car dearer in the city, at least public transport should then be available easily," he said while addressing a gathering.

The other ways to improve the city's air may also include increasing registration fee of cars.
 

The Chief Minister said taking cues from abroad, the government had implemented odd-even scheme last year, but it was a temporary solution, but not a permanent one.

"The big challenges we are facing today are pollution and traffic. The volume of traffic has increased on city's roads such that there is need to augment public transport...

"There are several other practices which suggest us to levy entry fee in congested areas during peak hours, on lines of rules in foreign countries," he said.

He also said this can only be implemented once our public transport is reliable.

"If we don't strengthen public transport and put several restrictions, people will then throw shoes at us," he said.

"Once we ensure last-mile connectivity and augmentation of public transport in city, we then can put some restrictions and people would support us. We can request public to abandon their vehicles and use public transport," he said.

Under the graded response plan of Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) which is being implemented by Supreme Court-appointed Environment Pollution Control Authority (EPCA), odd-even scheme will come into force when pollution level touches emergency proportions in the city.

It also lays out a series of measures based on the intensity of pollution including introduction of differential rates to encourage off-peak travel in public transport, and enhancing parking fee by 3-4 times.