There are matters of great concern about the odds-even traffic strategy. At the outset, let me make a confession. I have kind of stopped laughing. We need some sort of master plan to rescue the pollution. There is no pride in being the dirtiest city in the world or going through the day with dirt encrusted nails, lank hair and lungs sucking in air equivalent to a packet of cigarettes a day.
So,while Indians can mock the odds-evens concept the cruel fact also is that we, the people, want it done for us, without sacrifice on our part. This will never work if the public doesn’t give it a chance, there is no question about that. Whether Delhi or Dhaka, Beijing or Bangkok there are a 100 cities that face clogging on their arteries and inhale toxic fumes all day.
Is this the legacy for our children? What happens in Delhi could be a signpost for the rest of the world which is why it is so important to ensure it does not go off half cocked.
There is a palpable fear. The Delhi government is also myopic. It has not given a clearer picture of exactly how it will implement this scheme and whether vague statements of intent like a 20% increase in metro services or x number of buses on high density routes are reason enough to shore the confidence in the public.
There is also an end-user problem that has not been addressed. What if my salary is docked because I am late? Is my boss going to give me some slack till the system finds a rhythm? That productivity will suffer and delays in deliveries will cause logjams and losses in perishables has also to be taken into account. There will also be an impact on the army of private drivers who will now work 15 days a month because if you cannot drive the car why would I pay you the same.
Of course, it is a great idea, it just cannot be implemented in this absurd knee jerk fashion. Here are a few scenarios that are light-hearted but very valid because if they are not addressed the plan will collapse and the residents will face citizen-police arguments every few yards. If I go out to a party or a function on a Friday evening in a car with an odd number and it passes midnight do I have to party on till Sunday to be able to go back home in my car?
Who will sit in judgment and how will the fines be given? Since 90% of the traffic cops are on the take will I be able to pay them whatever is the standard bribe and drive on. How will the Kejriwal administration police the situation when the cops do not come under its command? What happens if some person has a medical emergency and doesn’t speak with his neighbors...can they take the risk of driving his car or will he have to call a cab? What about going to the local market down the road for groceries...does that count as a drive?
No one has talked about scooters and mobikes that are like ants on the road and as pesky. Are they also included in the divide? There are nearly a million of them in the capital.
What if I am driving in from out of state and it’s the wrong number plate for the day...will I have to stop outside the Delhi zone and wait 24 hours? Will members of the Kejriwal government all do the same?
Car pooling is a sensible option only if your neighbors are going to the same destination or direction. In India this is not common unlike the west where housing allocations are corporate and, therefore, you can engage in this exercise. In Delhi ironically, only the media and the government and the armed forces agencies have designated housing.
Can the current public transport system bear the brunt of so many more passengers? Someone must give a proper answer with a breakdown of services per zone?
Then we come to the big apple. Legal issues.
I have a fender bender with another car and it is possibly my fault but my number plate is for the right day. The other guy has the wrong number plate for the day so he should not be on the road. What are the legal implications for me? Am I guilty or is he, seeing as how I would not have hit him if he wasn’t there?
A cop stops a car rushing to the hospital for a delivery. The car is seventh in the line up so the cop is not listening to the entreaties. If there are complications who is responsible in legal parlance?
Between now and January 1, 2016 can owners of more than one car change their number plates so they have an odd and even at home and less inconvenience.
Finally, will the already questionable efficiency on our swathed in red tape administrations and love for paperwork and forms in triplicate be further delayed as the bureaucracy uses the traffic limitations as an excuse for more delay? Odds or evens this is on the cards.
So, let the Delhi administration think about it a little more carefully, especially in the light of the authorities already seeking sanctuary in conceding they will withdraw the plan if it fails in the first fifteen days. Are you kidding? In fifteen days it won’t even have begun to sort itself out and this is a pretty dismaying level of faith.
It will take months to gather momentum and rhythm. If it is worth doing it is worth doing well.
