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View Poll Results: Do you want odd-even policy to continue in Delhi beyond the Jan 15th deadline?
Yes, I can feel the oxygen in the air for a change 14 7.14%
Yes, travel is a breeze 86 43.88%
No, highly inconvenienced on days I cannot take my car out 63 32.14%
No, nothing changed - I continue to take pills for my allergies/asthama! 33 16.84%
Voters: 196. You may not vote on this poll

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Old 13th January 2016, 22:13   #61
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Re: Poll: Do you want the odd-even policy to continue? Only NCR BHPians please!

Improvement of Public Transport , better roads , more roads , are always time consuming and politically motivated (or not). Therefore I don't think that approach will going to work for Delhi Pollution issue. I think the answer lies in Technology . Better and more advanced use of Car Technology is the need of the hour. However , at this time , either we have to buy expensive technology from advanced countries , OR we create limbos like this odd-even rule that creates more problem than solution.

This should be an eye opener to the government , Science Research Bodies , and car makers too , to invest more money on research for better electric cars , more powerful batteries, to be precise , that can run a 600 KM stretch like a diesel car without recharge and with good speed. If Technology can provide a suitable alternative , then all these issues and problems will be resolved automatically; And the Pollution level will most likely come down too ; But that does not seem to be happening any time soon !!
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Old 14th January 2016, 11:26   #62
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I am from NCR (Faridabad) and travel to Delhi daily. Due to this odd-even policy, traffic has decreased to almost 2/3rd and jams aren't as frequent as they were (e.g. around Ashram turn) earlier. Buses have a benefit here as time taken for the same distance is considerably less. Earlier it was 40 minutes at least from my college to Badarpur, and now it takes 25-30 minutes at max.

Metro has taken the worst hit, as most working people prefer Metro (faster, professional-kinda service) for commuting and the rush has increased a lot. The violet line metro is as crowded as the red line (Kashmere Gate area) now. Apparently, it took me 1 hour on the same route which was completed in 40 minutes earlier.

About the pollution level, it hasn't decreased as expected. I have to walk 400-500 meters on the days when I travel by Metro and can feel dust particles (smoke, dust, dirt) as before. Though a scientific check would be able to gauge the positive or negative effect of this rule.

Problem is that some people can buy a second car (which is normal, as we can't expect a CEO/MD to travel by public transport for work) and the remaining may get a cheaper alternative (a bike, a used car) for travelling. Govt. should scrap this rule and instead make restrictions on new car ownerships. Instead of deterring people on getting a new/second car for personal use, it can remove choice of numbers (registration numbers) which will act as a major gamble for second car buyers. One hoping for an even number will be in deep trouble if he is alloted another odd number vehicle. In NCR (especially Delhi region), CNG should be made mandatory for cabs and other public transport as a big chunk of yellow boards use diesel now. Results of vehicle pollution check should be categorised and graded as, say A, B, C, etc. where type A will be least polluting car and C will be the most polluting. Odd-even should be applied for more polluting cars only, like a badly maintained one or 15-20 year old one. The current rule is only eating up the police force which would have been better used at some other security purposes.

And day before yesterday when I was walking towards the Metro station, I saw one person replacing last digit from his number plate from odd digit to even. He has a basic sticker-type number plate and had a sheet of '8' and '9' stickers ready in the boot. I went to him and he explained that police wouldn't stop a proper car (even number on even day, vice versa) travelling in the right most lane and he changes numbers everyday. He was a driver with private registration and said that "it is cheaper than getting a new car!". Wait, did I give another good idea to car-enthusiasts!?

Last edited by swift_guy : 14th January 2016 at 11:38. Reason: Typo
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Old 14th January 2016, 11:46   #63
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Re: Poll: Do you want the odd-even policy to continue? Only NCR BHPians please!

One thing measure has done is to make people aware of the serious pollution problem. A few months back, there were few people aware of pollution levels, dust, vehicle emissions and so on. Now, at least, people are aware that pollution is a serious threat. Awareness is the first step in dealing with a problem.

Coming to arguments regarding the need to improve public transport, it is important to note that Delhi currently has the best public transport system in India by a long shot. Delhi metro covers over 200 kms and has over 160 stations. This network is going to significantly increase this year as phase 3 gets completed. The network would nearly double from here by the end of this year. Hence we can't say that the government is not taking any measures to improve public transport. Delhi also has a big fleet of modern buses.

The problems are the lack of footpaths, indiscipline exhibited by auto rickshaw drivers with overcharging and refusal to ferry customers, improper parking and encroachments and lack of planning on smaller roads and in localities. In addition, people of Delhi have become lazy and think walking a km to and from the metro is not normal. You can see healthy people riding in cycle rickshaws for small distances. These cycle rickshaw drivers have taken over the roads and footpaths. They drive on the wrong side, dirty the whole area and lead to traffic jams along with auto and battery rickshaw drivers. Strict measures in licencing, parking enforcement and planning of parking spots would help a lot in this regard.

In summary, we can't have a mentality of all or nothing. No one step can eliminate all problems but that shouldn't stop us from implementing several incremental steps that lead in the right direction.
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Old 14th January 2016, 13:51   #64
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Re: Poll: Do you want the odd-even policy to continue? Only NCR BHPians please!

I too am not from NCR and hence would not be the right person to vote here. But I read somewhere (don't exactly remember where) that: A developed country is not where poor people have their own transport. It's one where the well to do also use public transport. I personally feel this is where we should head towards.
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Old 15th January 2016, 19:05   #65
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Re: Poll: Do you want the odd-even policy to continue? Only NCR BHPians please!

Here is a very well written article on the Odd-Even plan; Please excuse the long post, but it is definitely worth a read

Mods - Please feel free to delete if deemed too long

http://www.opindia.com/2016/01/the-a...plan-of-delhi/

A man suffering from severe cold and sore throat went to a doctor. The doctor had a hard look at him, checked his vitals and prescribed a ten day course of medicines, some tests to eliminate suspicions related to other complications, asked him to stay away from spicy, oily food; especially the one which is difficult to digest, stay away from alcohol & smoking, avoid crowded places and take it easy. The doctor also advised him to avoid getting wet, for a few days, if possible.

The longish list of advice & prescription set the man thinking. The tests & medicines would cost more than Rs. 3500 or as much as two bottles of scotch & he was scared at the thought of spending so much hard earned money on some stupid medicines. A friend who was famous for his bar-be-que and a beautiful wife had planned a party that evening itself. Another event, a picnic with activities like camping, river rafting and bonfire was planned by his company during the coming weekend which he could not miss. About the smoking, well, he too wanted to quit and had been trying for last ten years, unsuccessfully.

Faced with such odds, the man decided to take the doctor’s advice in a phased manner. He would work on one advice in phase one and later, when circumstances permitted, keep on adding more.

In the first phase, he decided that he would not take bath for next 15 days. Depending upon the results of this trial, he would decide to continue it or add further components of the prescription or advice.

Well, he did just that. He stopped taking bath, from that day onwards. But he continued going to parties, drank to his heart’s content, ate anything his taste buds found liked, danced away to glory and off course did not discontinue smoking. In fact, fortified by the thought that his no bath policy could not only cure him but probably give him immunity from common cold or flu, his indulgence increased in severity.

After a week he tweeted, “The no bath policy implemented successfully. Saves environment, saves time in the morning. Happy to play my role in saving the earth.” He also got few hundred retweets too from kids who were scared of the wet, cold showers.

Same week, his wife left him due to the stink he was having around him.

He tweeted again, “Phenomenal success of No Bath policy. Saving environment, saving time, saving cost of living. Proud to be a NoBath-ian.”

The relevant part of story ends here. What happened to him; whether his condition improved (a common flu can get cured in a week) or worsened or he died of pneumonia, whether his wife came back or he was excommunicated from society due to stink is not relevant to the issue at hand.

The man would be remembered for conceptualization and successful implementation of the ‘No Bath Policy’ even if he died as he ignored the crucial part of the medical prescription.

Because this is exactly how the Odd Even formulae for Delhi was envisaged, planned, implemented, promoted and finally gloated upon.

The problem was pollution; with the major contributors, in descending order of contribution being dust, either emanating from construction activity or agricultural residue from neighbouring states, pollutants discharged by industries, power plants, vehicular emissions from heavy transport vehicles crossing Delhi and local vehicular emissions from two wheelers and four wheelers, private and public.

Delhi government chose to attack the factor which contributed less than 5% of total pollution, much like the imaginary man above chose the easy option of not taking bath.

What the Delhi government faced was a problem that needed an integrated plan, including detailed studies on road design & space allocation for public transport & private vehicles, integrated traffic plans incorporating Metro, BRTS, road transport & last mile connectivity, detailed discussions with stake holders, huge resources in terms of finances and people, lot of hard work in creating an executable plan with a credible communication strategy to take people on board, coordination with other agencies including central government, neighbouring states, local municipal bodies and finally, political will to implement few unpopular initiatives.

Phew!

When going gets tough, the tough appear on television.

In the face of such insurmountable challenges, Delhi government acted decisively and chose to let the public do the hard work, make sacrifices & spend money while it went happily to TV instead, as usual, like the imaginary man above, who chose to go to the parties so that he could eat, drink and dance to his heart’s content instead of taking medicines & staying in bed.

And the car owning male in Delhi became the new minority, with no rights whatsoever.

He could not use his car as it is one of his ‘men’s those days’, he could not travel with his wife as her exemption would vanish due to his presence, he was treated as an imposter in public transport, like a new prisoner in a jail, he was fleeced by autos, paid surge pricing on Ola & Uber and royally ignored by the government.

And the success of the plan was declared on day one!

Since the pollution did not come down, it was not even planned for or expected to, the success was measured instead on adherence to the odd even plan.

Assume your wife beats you; occasionally, frequently or at least with a certain specific frequency. Now you make a plan to change that. The plan goes like this; every time your wife beats you, you would think about your imaginary girlfriend, just to spite her, even if only in your own thoughts.

Now if you measure success of your plan on ratio of number of times you thought about your girlfriend to number of times your wife beat you, you would find an achievement of over 100%. Off course, the beatings do not come down, like pollution in Delhi.

In the bargain, the gains for Delhi were temporary, the loss irrecoverable.

Many people got affected by the plan.

Road users (exempted) had pleasant rides or drives as travelling times got reduced, public transport regulars cribbed about the new specie (male car owner of Delhi) encroaching their constricted space, Kejriwal gained visibility, he (or his back) was on air or television almost every two minutes, media gained advertisements worth crores of rupess from the Rs 526 crore war-chest, the agency handling Delhi govt advertisement budget got its hefty commissions (and possibly rumoured kickbacks too), Aam Aadmi Party members gained temporary employment for offering rosebuds to road users, auto & taxi operators earned lot of moolah by doing almost double the rides.

But Delhi lost.

It was a unique, rare situation where Courts were strict, public was primed for harsh measures, government had the political strength, media was supportive. If the government wanted, it could have done wonders.

But government chose a farce instead of governance.

Last edited by amit_2025 : 15th January 2016 at 19:10.
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Old 16th January 2016, 20:54   #66
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Re: Poll: Do you want the odd-even policy to continue? Only NCR BHPians please!

A precedence has been set and now they will apply the scheme as per their whims and fancies. I'm amazed at the self-congratulatory mode that Mr. Kejriwal has adopted on this matter. He is very conveniently forgetting to even mention the inconvenience that people might have faced. As if it was always our cross to bear and we were shunning from doing so.

He has hit on a lottery, what an easy way to appease his vote bank. He doesn't seem to be too far from the parties of yore. To quote a comment - "people have to pay fine for the basic infrastructural work that government has not done"

Source: http://indianexpress.com/article/cit...ming-response/
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Old 10th February 2016, 18:24   #67
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Re: Poll: Do you want the odd-even policy to continue? Only NCR BHPians please!

Quote:
Originally Posted by interest View Post
I would have supported it whole-heartedly if indeed the government had been fair and reasonable in implementing it. By this I mean-

a) Exemptions should not have been given so liberally. By giving exemptions to women is the government recognising that women travelling by car are safer than women travelling by public transport. In that case, I would argue that why shouldn't the government deploy civil defense volunteers and police to make public transport safer for women (and probably senior citizens as well) in the first place. Also, if the real purpose of this exercise was to check pollution then I dont know how giving exemptions to two wheelers is justified.
I agree with you exemptions doesn't make sense.. so if there are two cars in the family and considering both the partners working they just need to switch cars depending odd and even. Just buy a used car with a different no. or use the two wheeler. Simple solution which the govt thought people might not think off.
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