Road Space Rationing – A perfect, practical and effective solution

Road Space Rationing – A perfect, practical and effective solution

From 1^st January 2016, finally Delhi Government has started this rule. Yet it is on trial basis up to 15 Jan. People have different view for this rule; some of them are against it, but some intelligent people are supporting it – the ones who know about environment and love their life.

This traffic restraint policy is common in Latin American cities like Mexico City, Santiago Chile and Sao Paolo, Costa Rica, Honduras, La Paz, Bolivia. Beijing implemented temporary restrictions during the Bejing Olympics in 2008 and were able to improve air quality. Paris has also issued driving restrictions on a limited basis. And so has Rome. This is the history of introducing road rationing policies in cities.

·         Athens, Greece in 1982

·         Santiago, Chile in 198 and extended to 2001

·         Mexico City, Mexico in 1989

·         Sao Paulo, Brazil in 1997

·         Bogota, Colombia in 1998

·         La Paz, Bolivia in 2003

·         San Jose, Costa Rica in 2005

·         Honduras (countrywide) in 2008

·         Quito, Ecuador in 2010

What does Road space rationing mean?

It is also called “Alternate-day travel, driving restriction, no drive day.

According to this rule, cars with odd and even number plates will run on alternate days of the week. For example, if your vehicle’s number ends in 1, 3, 5, 7, and 9 will run on odd dates and the number plates ending in 0,2,4,6 and 8 will run on even dates.

History

The earliest known implementation of road space rationing took place in Rome, as carriages and carts pulled by horses created serious congestion problems in several Roman cities. In 45 B.C. Julius Caesar declared the center of Rome off-limits between 6 a.m. and 4 p.m. to all vehicles except for carriages transporting priests, officials, visitors, and high ranking citizens

Effective time- The rule will apply between 8 AM to 8 PM from Monday to Saturday.

Purpose

I don’t think that it will not work, it is simple understanding that this trial will bring good result for reducing pollution and traffic too in Delhi but I feel for those people who are raising slogans against this rule even those people who belong to Delhi.. And they and their families are directly affected by pollution. They should welcome this rule for the sake of their life but they are un welcoming this rule, however Delhi is not being polluted by vehicle’s emission only but everyone knows that vehicle’s are also playing an important role.

The rule is a pilot move to reduce the pollution levels in Delhi. For the convenience of commuters, the frequency of Metro trains will be increased. Secondly, about 3,000 buses will ply on the road at regular intervals. Third, radio taxi services such as Ola and Uber will introduce the aspect of car-pooling in Delhi-NCR.

Who will not affect by rule-

See friends, before few months ago we have heard that Delhi is not safe for women, but nowadays we will have to say that Delhi is not safe for living individual and especially for pregnant women. In the environment of Delhi a number of mutants, carsinogens, and particulate matter has been identified that can cause mutation in the DNA of embryo too.

As usual, the following set of people will be exempted from following the road space-rationing rule:

·         Vehicles driven on CNG

·         Electric and hybrid vehicles

·         Two-wheelers

·         Female drivers, with women passengers only

·         Female drivers with a child/children below 12 years

·         Medical emergency (after showing considerable proof)

·         Passengers are physically challenged

·         Top Government officials including the Prime Minister, President, Vice President, CJI, Lok Sabha Speaker, Dy. Chairman Rajya Sabha, Dy. Speaker Lok Sabha, State Governors, and Lt. Governor.

PENALTY

In case a person breaks the rule of road space – rationing, he will be charged with a fine of Rs. 2000. If you have lots of money, you will not be affected by this rule.

My View

I have stayed for two years in Delhi; even now I keep visiting the city often. Who would want to stay in such a polluted city? I don’t have any reason to stay in Delhi permanently.

The residents of Delhi or the Delhi government has recently thought about resolving the problem of pollution which is occurring from the last 10 years

The only reason contributing to increase in pollution is not just the increasing number of vehicles; other reasons include industries, factories, fewer plants etc. Restrictions on the number of vehicles will relieve the problem of pollution a little because it is our responsibility

You cannot shut down factory operations all of a sudden; it takes quite enough time to setup a carbon-controlled manufacturing plant. However, it can be expected from the common man that you travel from Janakpuri to Connaught Place via metro train, cycle, or local bus.

The government will contribute its 25% efforts to reduce the pollution level; it is expected that the common man takes 80% of the responsibility. It depends on us to make a choice; someone needs to take an initiative. In the entire lifetime of a human being, a person consumes oxygen generated by minimum 20 plants, but how many plants does an individual plant?

Are you ready to become responsible to save the environment?