[promit]

So, was waiting for another day to pass. I have mixed feelings about this most recent development. I wish the persons concerned put in some more careful thought before trying it out. It's a sorry state of affairs. We can't be expected to adapt to public transport overnight. The current scenario of public transport is far from ideal. Arvind Kejriwal gets his ten seconds of fame on every single ad break on every radio station.

A team member of mine had his Note 3 picked in the metro yesterday evening. This was at Sikanderpur station, while boarding an overcrowded metro at 7 PM. His only mistake was doing his bit by not driving down yesterday! He says there were 2-3 others filing FIR's for phones along with him.

There was a massive traffic jam on the highway yesterday evening. Getting challan-ed for taking the Rajokri u-turn to go towards Ambience Island is as ridiculous as it gets (as you have to cross the delhi border to take the u-turn under the flyover)

Most Delhi households have 2-3 cars, they are getting by just fine!

I live and work and Gurgaon, I am personally unaffected at the moment.

Are they able to enforce this rule effectively ? From personal experience had gone to New Friends Colony on Satuday (4th) and saw lots of odd numbered cars on the road.

[sourabhzen]

Originally Posted by fine69

Had any experience with getting pick pocketed lately? Then comes the even smoother FIR process. Last but not the least, the butter smooth re-issuance of Voter ID card. There are a whole lot of other things but this was enough at least for me to stay away from the crowded public transport.

You are right, nobody gets killed but just in case you catch the pickpockets picking your pocket and just in case your instinct decides to resist then don't forget to wear a stab-proof vest!

Sorry to hear that you got pick pocketed on first day of commuting in Metro. Hope they accepted your FIR and you got your Voter I card. Sorry, but i never got this experience in my 25 years of stay in Delhi during which I traveled in public transport only for 17 years. And yes I saved a fellow passenger from his pocket being picked in a Blue line bus once.

Originally Posted by fine69

I don't deny that I am a regular selfish guy. I've worked hard to own a car and no one has the right to tell me to not be selfish. What if I tell someone to not have that expensive meal at Bukhara's and instead have a regular economy meal at home. Everytime we engage in a leisure activity we contribute to pollution, knowingly or unknowingly and the people who are actually slogging to work in their vehicles are being held for causing pollution.

You don't think that you are the only one who earned hard, do you?

My parents taught me not to be selfish and I guess majority Delhi parents stopped teaching this virtue about two decades ago. This is my personal observation though, no data to support this statement.

With regards to pollution, I think every one should contribute in whatever way he can considering that the situation is GRAVE. Again, these are my personal views.

Originally Posted by fine69

How many here dare to capture a vlog of their travel from a remote NCR place to another corner and then shut us all up by slapping that video in our face of how smooth the entire journey is!

I did not understand what are you trying to say by these lines. May be I can do something if you explain it better. I travel 40 kms daily to reach office from Sector 49 Gurgaon to Okhla Phase III, New Delhi.

Yesterday was butter smooth for me, far better than my last two years of commute. I will update about tomorrow by same time tomorrow.

[bluevolt]

Under all this discussion, what is the scene after 15 January? Are they going to stop this and the odd/even not returning back?

To be really honest, it is causing a lot of inconvenience to people in the name of preventing pollution which isn't actually prevented at all.

[breezydrive]

Yesterday night while returning from a road trip in HP, saw the huge flames as the garbage dumps near Mukarba Chowk were on fire. The fire was deliberately ignited by the people manning the garbage dumps. The whole area was full of smoke and bad odour. Is Delhi govt. really bothered about the pollution?

Couldn't take pics as I was driving and fellow passengers were dozing.

[sourabhzen]

Originally Posted by breezydrive

Yesterday night while returning from a road trip in HP, saw the huge flames as the garbage dumps near Mukarba Chowk were on fire. The fire was deliberately ignited by the people manning the garbage dumps. The whole area was full of smoke and bad odour. Is Delhi govt. really bothered about the pollution?

Couldn't take pics as I was driving and fellow passengers were dozing.

Garbage dumps are managed by MCD which is out of Delhi Government's ambit. So, to answer you, they may or may not be bothered, MCD is definitely not bothered. You must write this to MCD and CPCB. Who knows they might start taking some precautions.

[extreme_torque]

Originally Posted by fine69

I don't deny that I am a regular selfish guy. I've worked hard to own a car and no one has the right to tell me to not be selfish. What if I tell someone to not have that expensive meal at Bukhara's and instead have a regular economy meal at home. Everytime we engage in a leisure activity we contribute to pollution, knowingly or unknowingly and the people who are actually slogging to work in their vehicles are being held for causing pollution.

Yes you are selfish because you do not realize the fact that driving is a privilege not your right. Just because you can afford it doesn't mean you should and you can and you should be allowed to. What is your personal contribution or accountability? Did you raise your voice when overnight, all public transport were asked to convert to CNG and they had to queue sometimes throughout the night just to get a fill? Was it easy for them?
I tend to agree with a gentleman when he said middle class in India is the most pampered of them all but then that is an argument for another day.

[invincible7]

So today being an even day it was the even numbered cars to be on the road, mine happens to be an odd number so I thought of driving early to Gurgaon to avoid being penalized or I should say extort money for driving my car in regular hours in the city i.e. the rule applies from 8 Am to 8 Pm. Well to my surprise the traffic from Central Delhi to Gurgaon was quiet heavy for an early morning 7 Am start, it was surprising but then most of the people have no other choice i.e. either start early to office and slog more hours in office even though one may not have so much work in hand for that particular day or use a public transport which in itself is a big accomplishment if you come back in one piece at the end of the day or use a taxi which isn't cost effective on a daily or alternate day basis for long. So observing the trend of traffic on road I believe that pollution levels wont be decreasing as such as the number of cars on road are no less - they have just moved the times to commute at different hours of the day, so don't know what this exercise is all about. Also I would term it as an harassment by state to working people like me who work late in office and then next morning are forced to be in office early as we have limited choice of commuting. I am amused with this exercise to say the least and wonder where it will lead us with this kind of thinking from our leaders.

[roy_libran]

I wanted to refrain from commenting right at the start, but now over 4 working days, what I observe is that this scheme is working well - in parts.
Yes, there is increased load on Metro and Buses. Yes, Autos are over-charging. Yes, car owners have a psychological problem.
But, in my office, people, including me, have been forced to get into car pools.
The traffic on the roads is generally better. I am seeing a 20-25% reduction in my office commute duration in peak office hours.

I would be happy, if this scheme were to continue beyond the 15th.

[myavu]

Being odd numbered I had managed to reach office by 8:05 a.m. today. If government is planning to repeat this every quarter with 15 days each (8.00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m) I will manage it like this. Anything more I am planning for a second car either new or old.

Cheers!

Vinu

[sgiitk]

Originally Posted by extreme_torque

Yes you are selfish because you do not realize the fact that driving is a privilege not your right. Just because you can afford it doesn't mean you should and you can and you should be allowed to. What is your personal contribution or accountability? Did you raise your voice when overnight, all public transport were asked to convert to CNG and they had to queue sometimes throughout the night just to get a fill? Was it easy for them?
I tend to agree with a gentleman when he said middle class in India is the most pampered of them all but then that is an argument for another day.

Sorry, who pays the taxes to keep the nation running - the middle class, and the percentage being fed back is a fraction of the collection.

I said then and still think switching public transport to CNG from Diesel was outright stupid. Reducing the compression from 20 to 10, changing over to spark ignition from compression ignition. Even more basic who was the fool who decided to use Good Transport engines for passenger vehicles (probably five to ten times the bhp).

One can go on and on.

[mayankk]

Originally Posted by extreme_torque

Yes you are selfish because you do not realize the fact that driving is a privilege not your right. Just because you can afford it doesn't mean you should and you can and you should be allowed to. What is your personal contribution or accountability? Did you raise your voice when overnight, all public transport were asked to convert to CNG and they had to queue sometimes throughout the night just to get a fill? Was it easy for them?
I tend to agree with a gentleman when he said middle class in India is the most pampered of them all but then that is an argument for another day.

So what is your point? He's already said he is selfish.
Unfortunately, driving for some of us is neither a privilege or a right. It is a necessity. His personal contribution is hopelessly clearing his PUC while the state disregards every other option.
Did the driver of the state transport pay for the CNG conversion? Did he spend 2 days getting the installation done? As for queuing, what extraordinary feat has he achieved which thousands of other regular joes with CNG fitted dont go through? Did he lose a day's leave because he was filling up?
Dont talk about the middle class being pampered. We're just sheep, or rather the state owned petrol pump where the tax bus stops for free fuel, but never picks up any passengers. It's only that now they're screaming against returns not being commensurate with the outlay.
Way too personal, this is getting.

There are some people who can bear the brunt of this, some who cannot, owing to whatever reasons.

[extreme_torque]

Originally Posted by mayankk

Unfortunately, driving for some of us is neither a privilege or a right. It is a necessity. His personal contribution is hopelessly clearing his PUC while the state disregards every other option.

That it is a privilege is still without question else the poor should be demanding cars from the government if it is their right. If you cannot manage for 7 odd days in a city with arguably the best public transport in India, it is a problem with you, not the city. If you cannot manage via public transport, raise your voice against lack of public transport not that you do not like the rule because it is not convenient.

Originally Posted by mayankk

Did the driver of the state transport pay for the CNG conversion? Did he spend 2 days getting the installation done? As for queuing, what extraordinary feat has he achieved which thousands of other regular joes with CNG fitted dont go through? Did he lose a day's leave because he was filling up?

Dont talk about the middle class being pampered. We're just sheep, or rather the state owned petrol pump where the tax bus stops for free fuel, but never picks up any passengers. It's only that now they're screaming against returns not being commensurate with the outlay.
Way too personal, this is getting.

There are some people who can bear the brunt of this, some who cannot, owing to whatever reasons.

You have not got my point, have you? What I meant is that transition is not going to be painless. Heck nothing is going to be painless eg. increasing the parking fares so that it becomes expensive to park your car and hence forcing you to use public transport. I am sure many will disagree with this as well. Also when I highlighted CNG conversion, I was highlighting inconvenience faced by people and not the cost of the conversion or who did it. With lack of CNG filling stations at the start people used to stay in queues and bus drives used to stay awake the whole night just so that they can get a fill to operate their vehicles the next day. Imagine staying up all night just to fill petrol in your car. Would you not use public transport then? What options did the poor bus driver had? Were they not humans? Did we raise a hue and cry that time?

When I said middle class is the most pampered, I meant this sense of entitlement that "oh it is so inconvenient for me" thinking only about us and not the average joe on the road who is working 10 times as hard just to make ends meet. The sense of entitlement that since I pay taxes and earn decent salary, so should be allowed to screw the environment. I know it is inconvenient but lesser congestion and lesser pollution is well worth the cost. And if it acts as a catalyst to further improve the public transport, even better because that should be the long term plan. Our population is too large for everyone to be using their cars to commute. We needed to take hard steps, having the title of being the most polluted city in the world is not going to do anything remotely good to your health or your family's. I am glad the present government has the balls to take such a step.

Study how many people in big cities around the world use their cars for commuting - London will kill you with its congestion charge and parking costs and so will be most other developed cities.

[mayankk]

Originally Posted by extreme_torque

That it is a privilege is still without question else the poor should be demanding cars from the government if it is their right. If you cannot manage for ---------SNIP----------- is inconvenient but lesser congestion and lesser pollution is well worth the cost.

One, you're strangely detached from the reality of public transportation in delhi. So the problem, per se, is not with me, but a lack of the base, ground transportation system. Understand this: I can get into the metro from a general area, and get TO a general area. After that, I have no control as to how to get to the eventual location, or on how much I am gypped. And that additional commute in both areas can be upto 5kms at both points.
Two, the CNG conversion, I honestly have not got your point. The state transport was mandated. Are you highlighting their plight of queuing up in dedicated, owned, cng filling stations till at least sometime back? Subsidized CNG?
The private transport was by choice.

Three, raising a hue and cry is something that has been going on. the "middle class" has been lamenting for ages to augment the public transportation system. The buses are rickety, they dont drive well, there is no comprehensible frequency, the autos overcharge, or outright refuse, the metro is brilliant, but collapsing under the loads, the cabs are just more wheels on the road, the roads are jammed up owing not just to traffic, but the sheer wasteful lengths of time that projects keep going on for, there is massive encroachment on main roads everywhere, the cops are corrupt, and will not implement rules, the PUC is not implemented, the construction is not regulated.
Stop me if you've heard ANY this for the first time.


Meantime, the government, "Yes yes, all true. However, what you should do, sir, is manage for a bit of time without a car, first. we will not listen to you when you talk work for us."
Was an opinion taken in this case?
I am not presenting an opinion. I am typing out the problems that ARE being faced, while the "do the least possible" option is IN force.

PS: Glad that you brought up london. Do compare the state of their system with Delhi's.

[poloman]

Originally Posted by extreme_torque

That it is a privilege is still without question else the poor should be demanding cars from the government if it is their right. If you cannot manage for 7 odd days in a city with arguably the best public transport in India, it is a problem with you, not the city. If you cannot manage via public transport, raise your voice against lack of public transport not that you do not like the rule because it is not convenient.


You have not got my point, have you? What I meant is that transition is not going to be painless. Heck nothing is going to be painless eg. increasing the parking fares so that it becomes expensive to park your car and hence forcing you to use public transport. I am sure many will disagree with this as well. Also when I highlighted CNG conversion, I was highlighting inconvenience faced by people and not the cost of the conversion or who did it. With lack of CNG filling stations at the start people used to stay in queues and bus drives used to stay awake the whole night just so that they can get a fill to operate their vehicles the next day. Imagine staying up all night just to fill petrol in your car. Would you not use public transport then? What options did the poor bus driver had? Were they not humans? Did we raise a hue and cry that time?

When I said middle class is the most pampered, I meant this sense of entitlement that "oh it is so inconvenient for me" thinking only about us and not the average joe on the road who is working 10 times as hard just to make ends meet. The sense of entitlement that since I pay taxes and earn decent salary, so should be allowed to screw the environment. I know it is inconvenient but lesser congestion and lesser pollution is well worth the cost. And if it acts as a catalyst to further improve the public transport, even better because that should be the long term plan. Our population is too large for everyone to be using their cars to commute. We needed to take hard steps, having the title of being the most polluted city in the world is not going to do anything remotely good to your health or your family's. I am glad the present government has the balls to take such a step.

Study how many people in big cities around the world use their cars for commuting - London will kill you with its congestion charge and parking costs and so will be most other developed cities.

Sorry, you are repeating your points again and again. Please understand all data so far available indicate this step has not brought down the pollution levels. Are you confusing reducing congestion to reducing pollution? It is easier to talk about entitlement of middle class particularly when you are stationed in a foreign country. Compare the carbon footprint of a person in the country you are currently with a average joe in India. You will know the difference.
There is a good editorial in TOI today. They are advocating to scrap this ASAP.

[Masda]

Anyone else tracking the pollution stats during the odd-even scheme? Today the AQI readings, seem to be even higher than yesterday: