The condition of Delhi has never been such fatal in the last 17 years. The smog has engulfed the city and made it a perfect set up for a post-apocalyptic movie set up. Diwali fire crackers, stubble burning and excessive usage of private vehicles in the capital can be blamed for the rise in the pollution levels in Delhi.
But Delhi’s most loved and hated traffic rule – the Odd-Even traffic rule after two sessions within this year has managed to grab eyeballs of all the analysts of the world. The rule that made the roads emptier was an attempt to pin down the pollution levels of the city. The first session (January 1 to January 15) was so popular that people waited for the session two. Then came in second 15 day trial period (April 15 to April 30) of this and it was criticized badly – air pollution levels, traffic on road everything shot up.
But Delhi’s chief minister said that this trial period cannot be the long term solution.
Also Read: Decoding Odd-Even 2.0: Delhi's Air Pollution levels cross 23 percent in Odd-Even Rule
Enter Mexico City – the city with almost exactly similar symptoms like Delhi’s. Air Pollution levels dangerously shot up, geographically centrally located (add few mountains), corruption lurking the official authorities. Back in 1989 the city was the first one in the world to bring in – Hoy No Circula or one day without a car rule to curb the air pollution levels.
This rule after being in placed for about seven years started to lose its uniqueness – people bought secondary second-hand cars to outdo the rule. But the authorities, coming together to fight air pollution have made Hoy No Circula on steroids. The restrictions on vehicle mobility mean that all privately owned vehicles will be off the roads once a week and on one Saturday a month, from April 5 to June 30. The time of this restriction is 5am to 10pm.
Also Read: Odd-Even traffic rule in Delhi on the verge of failing as pollution levels shoots up
But the city suffers from its own indigenous problem of corruption – which Delhi has managed to circumvent a lot. So if a city like Mexico City can tackle the issue of air pollution this rule so can Delhi too. With constant modification and stern implication of rules the air pollution levels can be curbed but major capping needs to be done in small industries in the city.
Article inspired from The Conversation
Image Credit: BBC