Delhi Police not consulted about AAP govt's proposed car restriction to curb pollution

Hours after the Delhi Government made an announcement about restricting plying of private vehicles bearing odd and even registration numbers to alternate days, the Delhi Police on Friday said that it was not consulted in connection with the proposal.

"Delhi Police has not been consulted for the concerned proposal. If the proposal ever comes to us, it shall be examined by the traffic department and further action will be taken only in public-interest," Delhi Police Commissioner B S Bassi said. "If the proposal comes to me, only then I shall be able to comment further on the issue. On our part, nothing can be said at this juncture," Bassi added.

In a radical step to curb air pollution that has assumed "critical" level, Delhi Government today announced that private vehicles bearing odd and even registration numbers will be allowed to ply only on alternate days starting January 1, which drew mixed reactions. In an emergency meeting chaired by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, a day after the High Court compared Delhi to a "gas chamber", the government also decided a series of steps to cut pollution which included shutting down of a thermal power plant and making it mandatory for vehicles to have Euro VI emission norms from 2017.

The odd/even number scheme, similar to the one in place in Chinese capital Beijing and Singapore, allows vehicles with number plates ending with an odd number to be driven one day while those ending with an even number can be plied the next day, meaning that a motorist will be able ply his vehicle only for 15 days in a month.