Thanksgiving event for odd-even success

Hinting at possible extension of the ongoing odd-even car rationing scheme, city transport minister Gopal Rai on Wednesday said that a review meeting will decide the second phase of the scheme. He also announced that a thanksgiving event has been organised by the government for residents of the city who made road rationing a “success.”

Speaking about the second phase of the odd-even scheme, Mr Rai said that the review meeting to be chaired by chief minister Arvind Kejriwal has been convened on Monday. “In the meeting, we will review the impact of the last 15 days of the odd-even car rationing scheme. On the basis of the review, a final decision on the future of the odd-even scheme will be taken. Apart from this, we will discuss measures to make Delhi pollution-free,” he said.

The transport minister said the AAP government will organise the thanksgiving event at Chhatrasal Stadium on Sunday. “The people of Delhi accepted the odd-even scheme from the bottom of their heart. To thank Delhiites, the government has decided to organise a ‘thanksgiving’ function at Chhatrasal Stadium,” he said.

The entire Delhi Cabinet, including Mr Kejriwal, will also be present at the event in which officials from different departments, including civil defence, SDMs, tehsildars, traffic police, transport department, drivers and conductors of DTC buses, cluster buses and DMRC will also be present. Apart from these departments, bus owners who gave their vehicles for the odd-even scheme will also participate.

Mr Rai also appealed to the people of Delhi to participate in the programme. Last week, Mr Rai had asserted that the AAP government had no intention of taking the 15-day road-rationing experiment beyond January 15. “The government is neither going to extend the odd-even scheme beyond January 15 nor will it finish it before the 15-day trial period,” Mr Rai had said.

The minister stressed on the need of promoting cycling in the national capital to make Delhi pollution-free. “In Monday’s meeting, we will also discuss on how to promote cycling in Delhi and a committee will be formed to make the plan,” he said.

The Delhi Government in collaboration with a private company on Wednesday initiated a bicycle sharing service at Rohini East Metro station.

In 2009, there was a cycle stand there, but the operation of this service was stopped, has now been restarted.

“We will work on the cycling plan in two phases. In first phase, we will encourage people to use cycles for their small tasks in their localities. We have already announced that the government will give subsidy on purchase of cycles. In the second phase, we will start constructing cycle lanes on the roads so that people could ride bicycles on these roads. The government has also decided to construct cycle stands at Metro stations and bus queue shelters to ensure last-mile connectivity,” he added.