DU students adapt to road curbs

Carpooling, travelling in crowded Metro trains or simply skipping lectures – students at Delhi University’s north campus have adapted to the odd-even rule.

With unclogged roads, and half-empty parking lots, students in general are happy seeing less traffic on the busy campus since the road rationing scheme began.

“During lunch time, normally there is lot of commotion with students taking their friends and girlfriends outside in their cars. Because of the odd-even rule, the number of cars has come down significantly,” said Sachin, a Kirori Mal college student. 

However, for some students the measures are a bit preposterous as they think that the public transport system is not ready yet for such schemes.

“I have an odd-numbered car. I come from Alipur, which is 35 kilometer from my college. The Metro service is available only till Jahangirpuri. From there I have to either take a shared auto or shell out an exorbitant amount to hire a personal autorickshaw to reach my house,” said Himanshu Vashisht, a second year Geography (Hons) student.

For some students living in far-off places, the odd-even scheme is an excuse big enough to skip coming to college altogether.

On days he can’t take his car, Law student Sachin, who stays in Greater Noida, checks if there is an important lecture. If there isn’t, he prefers skipping college that day. “I can’t travel on Metro,” he said.

Some students see their car a part of their personality, and are reluctant to use another form of transport.

For a bunch of students from DU’s Department of Germanic and Romance Studies, carpooling is the way to get around the odd-even rule. This also lets them go on long drives together after the classes.

“All of us six friends have a car. We carpool according to the day, and travel together, as we live near each other,” said Donil Arora, pursuing his graduation in French.

DU students also claim that traffic police are not very strict about prosecuting students who live near the campus, in areas like Kamla Nagar and Hudson Lane, for odd-even violations.

“I know some DU students who live in the nearby area. They know the cops of the area very well and generally get away with these things. Even the cops know that they live nearby so they don’t prosecute them unless there is some major offence,” Sachin added.