HAPPY ODD DAY

CHOCK-A-BLOCK (AFP)
A stream of cars crowds an avenue in New Delhi during the evening rush hour.  

TT: Delhi is tiptoeing into the New Year with a baby step on combating air pollution by rationing vehicles. Amid hope as well as scepticism, a cross-section of Delhiites tell The Telegraph how they are preparing themselves for the odd-even days.

NISSAR ALLANA 

Theatre director  

•Car number: Even

We have a big exhibition coming up on January 15, at Rabindra Bhawan on Ebrahim Alkazi’s works, for which I will commute a lot. I plan to carpool with my children when possible. On other days, I may rent a car. I use the Metro often but the bus service is not well organised like it is in the West. Even walking in this city is tough as the sidewalks are taken up by cars and construction debris. I support this effort by the government but it should not have been done without creating the infrastructure needed.

HARSHVARDHAN HEGDE 

Senior orthopaedic and spine surgeon, Fortis Escort Hospital, New Delhi

• Car number:  Odd

I plan to leave home before 7:30am and leave the hospital only after 8pm to avoid the 12-hour window on days that I can’t take the car out. It’ll make some difference to the time I’m back home.  I usually am always back before 8pm, now I’ll be back by 8.30 or 9pm, depending on the evening traffic. Some of my colleagues are planning to pool with other doctors who have odd or even-numbered cars. 

BRINDA KARAT 

CPM politburo member

• Party car numbers: Odd and even

I support the odd-even formula. Such a step has to be taken instead of just complaining about pollution. I will try to take the Metro from near my house. Buses are few and far between. Also, because I travel a lot in Delhi for political work, I will need to use a car to meet the deadlines. The party has been busy with the plenum, so we have not worked out the logistics of carpooling but hopefully we have enough odd and even vehicles.

B.R. MANI

Secretary, Indian Archaeological Society

• Car numbers: Odd and even

I have two cars, one even and one odd (chuckles). Only my wife and I are at home. Our children live and work elsewhere. I will have no problem commuting to work. But our staff are in a fix. They plan to use Uber or Ola.

AMBRISH MITHAL

Senior endocrinologist, Medanta Medicity Hospital, Gurgaon

• Car number: Even

I travel daily from Delhi to Gurgaon and visit another clinic in the city during the week. I have no alternative but to take taxis on alternate days. I’m distressed — my home is 5km from the nearest Metro station and it’s another 4km from the Metro to the hospital, and I have patients waiting. I see patients on average for about 10 hours a day. We need to face this — many areas in this city have poor connectivity to public transport.

NANDITA NARAIN

President, Delhi University Teachers Association (Duta)

• Car numbers: Odd and even

We have two cars, one odd number and one even number. Even though women are exempt from this odd-even formula, I will only use my cars on every alternate day. We need to do whatever we can for this cause of checking pollution. I stay on the campus and do not need a car to reach college. But I use transport since I travel to other colleges for Duta work. When I don’t have a car with me, I will use the Metro or go for carpool. In case of any odd hour, I may hire a taxi.

VENU RAJAMONY 

Press secretary to the President

• Car number: Odd

I hope to cycle to gym and work. My personal car is odd and I plan to avoid car use as much as possible and pool when required with other officers.

JAIRAM RAMESH 

Congress MP in the Rajya Sabha  

• Car number: Even

I will take public transport — Metro, bus or taxi — on other days. I anyway walk to many places. I wish these exemptions had not been given. I had, in fact, suggested this to then Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit in 2010 

after a visit to Beijing.

ANUMITA ROYCHOWDHURY 

Deputy director-general, Centre for Science and Environment 

• Car number: Even

(Roychowdhury has been spearheading a campaign to improve the air quality in the capital) I have two options to cover the 7km distance from my home to office. A ride on a pedal-driven rickshaw, then a bus to my office or a ride on an auto to a Metro station, then a feeder bus to the office. A car ride typically takes  about 15 minutes. I expect the rickshaw-bus ride to take slightly longer, perhaps 20 to 30 minutes. 

RAJDEEP SARDESAI

Journalist, India Today TV

• Car number: Odd

On the days I can’t use my car, I plan to carpool. Our company is organising a carpool. I need to slightly adjust my work timings on those days to suit the person I am driving with. I usually go to work in the second half of the day. If my office were close by, I would have cycled.

SHRIKANT SHARMA  

BJP media cell head  

• Car number: Odd

I have a car with an odd number plate, which means I can’t use it on January 2. I will use the Metro from my home in Kailash Colony (south Delhi) to the party office. I am used to the Metro. Whenever my wife and children use the car, I am on the Metro. I also use the Metro to do chores such as shopping. No doubt pollution is a huge problem that impacts every one of us and not just one individual. So the use of public transport should be encouraged. It’s a new 

experiment and we are always receptive to new ideas. 

YOGENDRA YADAV 

Swaraj Abhiyan founder and former AAP leader

• Car number: Even

It should be given a chance because environment has been a crucial but neglected issue in our politics. Any attempt to tackle pollution should be welcomed and supported. There may be design issues in this policy but let’s hope and pray the government gets it right. The crucial issue is not so much as design but the political will. Does the government really have the political will and governance skills? At the end of the 15 days, if pollution can be brought down it will be worth it. I have an even-numbered car but I use the Metro every second day. It is so much more convenient. With the odd-even formula, it will mean that I will use the Metro probably daily now. 

PUBLIC TRANSPORT

3,000 buses requisitioned from schools, which are closed till January 15, to augment the existing fleet of 6,000 buses, according to Delhi transport minister Gopal Rai 

70 additional up-and-down trips by the Delhi Metro, which usually operates 3,122 trips a day

Poocho, a Delhi government app for finding cabs and autos, will allow users to chat with potential carpoolers and check their profile 

Twitter has launched the hashtag #pollutionfreedelhi to help citizens navigate by tweeting their start and 

end points

The foreign ministry is hiring cabs while the navy is hiring 15 buses to ferry staff from their quarters to their offices

From 8am to 8pm, 5,700 civil defence volunteers and 300 National Cadet Corps and National Service Scheme cadets will assist police and transport enforcement officials

Compiled by Pheroze L. Vincent, Radhika Ramaseshan, Anita Joshua, G.S. Mudur and Basant Kumar Mohanty