'No improvement in traffic chaos or pollution level'

Manvi, college student

“I don’t see any improvement in either traffic or in the pollution level. For a middle class family, this scheme is a burden and has brought in a lot of problems. See the line at the Metro stations. The least the government can do is to relax the timing of the odd or even rule from 10 am to 7 pm. As you know the city is not safe for girls and women, so I would never think of travelling in public transport, especially in the evening time. The big cars are the real culprits as far as pollution in the city is concerned. Cars with above 2000 cc engine should be banned.”

Sanjay Sharma, hired personal driver

“Traffic has definitely come down, but the same can’t be said about pollution. Two-wheelers are the bigger contributors of pollution. Their movement should be restricted too. Despite feeling hot today, I have to roll up the car’s window pane as I can feel irritation in my eyes.”

“Earlier, it used to take around 45 minutes to one hour for me to commute between Patel Nagar in central Delhi to Jhandewalan via Karol Bagh, but because of the odd-even rule, the travel time has come down to 15-20 minutes for a distance of 6-7 km.”

Mohan Gulati, businessman

“If the traffic has come down, then the pollution should come down also. The government should improve public transport, starting with increasing the number of city buses. The roads are so dusty which raises the pollution level significantly. As far as traffic is concerned, we have been driving smoothly for the last four-five days. What the government is doing is commendable and we support it. To reduce the city’s pollution, new norms should be introduced for the construction sites. And along with cars, two-wheelers should also be brought in the odd-or-even scheme.

Rajan, IT professional

“This is good. Less traffic, but just a small percentage of decrease in pollution level. I share car with my neighbours and colleagues on alternate days. During morning, you can see a lot of smog which is due to the burning of garbage. I think it’s one of the main culprits as far as pollution is concerned. But then, at least something is happening. Every positive initiative is welcome. We should not be too cynical about the result of the scheme; it has created awareness among the people of the city and in the future prepared us for more and bigger steps to curb the menace of pollution. I would say due to this scheme, my productivity as a professional has only increased.”

Basant Kumar, government employee

“Earlier, I was a bit sceptical, but now I have started to like this scheme. The traffic jams which I used to face earlier at Burari, ISBT, Wazirabad and ITO have vanished. The city is suddenly looking a lot more livable now. But, I think this is just a temporary solution. The permanent solution for the twin problems of pollution and traffic is to limit the number of cars a person or a family can purchase. These days, a lot of families have more than two cars in Delhi. The government should ban purchase of more than one car by a family. We give full marks to this government for taking this first and most important step in curbing pollution and easing traffic.

R K Anand, businessman

“This is a positive step from the government to make the citizen’s lives healthier. Even if we have to face some problems for it, we should be prepared for it. Vehicles are not the only source of pollution. In residential colonies, a lot of commercial/industrial activities are happening which result in pollution. These small-scale factories should be relocated to the outskirts of the city. The people are supporting the present initiative of the government to curb pollution. I want to see more such steps in the future also. Dust on the roads should be cleaned with the use of vacuum cleaners.”