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New Delhi to restrict use of vehicles to curb air pollution
Nov 6, 2023
India's Delhi city will restrict the use of vehicles to curb rising pollution as air quality in the capital remains dangerously unsafe for a third consecutive day despite mitigation efforts.
New Delhi ranks among the world's top polluted cities every year ahead of the onset of winter when calm winds and low temperatures trap pollutants from sources including vehicles, industries, construction dust, and crop residue burning in nearby fields.
A thick smog shrouded the federal secretariat and president's palace in the heart of the city early on Monday, local time, and lowered visibility in other parts, as public outrage over hazardous air quality had grown.
As a result, the city extended the closure of primary schools until November 10.
The local government said that it would impose the "odd-even" vehicle rule from November 13-20 to mitigate pollution levels that are expected to rise after the Hindu festival of Diwali on November 12, when firecrackers are often set despite a ban.
The rule would allow vehicles with odd registration numbers on the road on odd dates and similarly vehicles with even numbers on alternate days.
Environmental experts have previously said that the rule, which has been imposed multiple times with some variations since 2016, has been more effective in de-congesting roads and less effective in bringing down pollution.
"In view of rising pollution, odd-even will be imposed in Delhi," Gopal Rai, the local environment minister, told reporters.
He added that a meeting will be held with the police and transport department on Tuesday to decide on the implementation.
Air quality was "severe" for a third consecutive day in the city on Monday, making it the second most polluted city in the world, behind Lahore in Pakistan, according to a real-time compilation by Swiss group IQAir.
A cricket World Cup match involving Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, however, went ahead in the city on Monday with organisers installing air purifiers in the players' dressing rooms and using water sprinklers to reduce pollutants in the air.
Curbs on vehicles are in addition to a ban on construction work for public projects in the national capital region, and restrictions on entry of trucks and heavy vehicles in Delhi, imposed by a federal pollution control watchdog on Sunday.
An analysis of 25 research studies by the Down To Earth magazine, published on Sunday, showed that poor air quality was linked to low birth weight, preterm delivery, stillbirth, developmental delay, restricted growth in children and even death.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-11-07/new-delhi-to-restrict-use-of-vehicles-to-curb-air-pollution/103072290