#OddEven a success for Kejriwal, disaster for Delhi's pollution

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders, including Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, have been blowing their own trumpets to claim success of their government's Odd-Even formula ever since it was implemented on January 1. It is time to assess the veracity of their claim on the 15th day, when the novel initiative comes to an end.

The formula may have been a success but has it served the purpose for which it was devised? That part is questionable. But the AAP government is dishing out only half the truth.

In plainspeak, the Odd-Even formula was implemented to check the alarming level of pollution in the capital. Hence, it was a means to an end - the end being to bring down the pollution level. However, it has failed to achieve its aim if the data provided by the Delhi Pollution Control Committee is any indication. Delhi's air quality has generally been "hazardous" or "very unhealthy" on most of the days during which the social experiment was carried out.

The concentration of Particulate Matter 2.5 (PM2.5) from January 1 to January 15 is hardly encouraging. The highest PM2.5 recorded on January 1 was 276 and the highest in the first week was recorded on January 6 (484). In the second week, the highest PM2.5 was recorded on January 13 (431).

With these results, which have been achieved under controlled conditions, it can hardly be said that the scheme was a "success".

Also read: Pollution-free and breathable air still a distant dream in India

AAP leaders are touting the formula a success just because the citizens participated (or "obeyed", as the AAP government would like us to believe). Hence, they are focusing on the means which may have been successful, but not on the end, which has certainly not been achieved.

Two analogies will explain the whole formula. A student may write an examination for three hours but that does not guarantee his success. A person moving at the speed of 20 km per hour can reach Mathura from Delhi (162 km distance) in roughly eight hours. But the same person will remain stationary if he jogs at the same speed on a treadmill for the same number of hours.

Many laboratory experiments are successful because they are conducted in ideal conditions. However, they fail in the normal conditions. The same is the case with this much-touted formula. It was implemented by force - shutting down the schools for 15 days and seizing their 3,000 buses. But this cannot go on forever.

The Metro and DTC buses have been plying more on the roads, making extra trips. Despite this, they are overcrowded - in fact, much more crowded than the normal days. This explains why the roads may have been a little less congested but the people had to pay a heavy price for it. They had to face immense hardship and inconvenience to carry out the chief minister's Odd-Even diktat.

Kejriwal, Delhi transport minister Gopal Rai, all AAP ministers and MLAs and Delhi government's bureaucrats should have used the Metro and DTC buses on alternate days (taking into account the fact that a person having one car would be using the public transport on alternate days) to witness for themselves just how overcrowded public transport has been for the past fortnight.

Ridiculously enough, the AAP leaders claimed that the Metro and DTC buses are not getting filled to their full capacity. Going by this, then it is clear that the people are sitting at home or are working from home during this period, because they have already declared that the number of vehicles on roads has decreased significantly. It is more disturbing if this is the case. Many people would have lost earnings and some may even have or lost their jobs during this period. Can this continue forever or even for a longer period? The answer is "NO", a resounding "NO".

There is also a question mark over the success of this plan when there have been exemptions for 25 categories of vehicles. The rich, having two vehicles of odd and even numbers, or those who can afford to buy one, have not been inconvenienced. The two-wheeler owners have also remained untouched with this scheme. The scheme has hurt only those owners who own one car and cannot afford to buy another one.

People in Delhi and NCR have started getting their petrol/diesel cars converted into CNG ones. Many are buying second cars or are disposing off their second cars in case they bear an even or odd number plate like their first ones. Those who cannot afford a second car are being forced to buy a two-wheeler.

So, all these factors put a big question mark over the so-called success of the Odd-Even scheme.

Instead of taking long-term and concrete measures, the Kejriwal government resorted to a short-cut method to gain instant and cheap popularity at citizens' cost. Most of the particulate material (PM) comprises dust and smoke, but the Delhi government has hardly taken any decision with regard to this.

Also read: AAP's car restriction rule is a slap in the face of Delhi aam aadmi

A friend went to Las Vegas and saw under-construction buildings. Every construction site had boards bearing the details of the builder and contractor and an air quality monitor. A person can complain in case he or she finds the quality of air to be poor. Besides, any world-class city controls dust by either covering the open space by concrete or grass. But Delhi does not follow any of these basic rules. Here garbage is burnt in the open not only by the people but also the municipal staff, emitting poisonous gases.

Corruption by the police and toll operators is also a big handicap in making the scheme a success. Recently, India Today TV, by way of #OperationGreenTax, exposed the nexus between the truckers and toll agents. It conducted an investigation and exposed how the Supreme Court order on limiting truck entry into Delhi is going up in thick diesel smoke at the DND Expressway, Loni border and Gurgaon and in various parts of Delhi where corrupt toll operators, who are more concerned about lining their pockets than fighting pollution, allow both empty and loaded trucks a free run.

Hence, if the people of Delhi and NCR are forced to resign to their fate on 350 of the 365 days a year, then it is not a success but a successful failure.

Postscipt: When Kejriwal says "Odd-Even" during his radio and TV ads, it sounds like "Audi1", giving the sense that it is a scheme for the rich, which many believe it to be.