Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday said that the Odd-Even Formula was a big success and thanked Delhi’ites, including the Delhi Police and the judiciary, for contributing in the success of the scheme, launched on a trial basis to reduce growing pollution.
Kejriwal, whose Aam Aadmi Party launched the formula on a 15-day trial starting 1 January, requested the residents of Delhi to follow the scheme on their own accord, despite no fines being imposed from Saturday.
The CM and transport minister Gopal Rai said that pollution was considerably reduced during the trial period.
“It was a tough rule but they followed it, not because of the Rs 2,000 fine [which was to be imposed on those breaking the rule]. People understood the rule and then they followed the rule from hearts. This shows that the residents of Delhi are very good people. They have presented an example. Not only people of the country were watching Delhi, but the entire world was watching,” said Kejriwal at a press conference.
“So, first of all congratulations to the public; secondly, congratulations to Delhi Police for their cooperation, and also to the traffic police. Civil defence volunteers worked under sun and politely went about their task. Congratulations to them, and also to media for pointing out our shortcomings,” he said.
“Congratulations to the judiciary, too, not just for judicial orders, but it personally overwhelming for me because despite the judges of the Supreme Court and Delhi High Court were in exempted category, a few High Court judges went to the court on foot while a few Supreme Court judges, including the CJI, pooled car. Their act inspired lakhs of people. We salute the judiciary, the judges,” Kejriwal pointed out.
Kejriwal also lauded the efforts of PWD, transport, Metro personnel for their cooperation in implementing the scheme, besides thanking women who voluntarily did not avail the exemption.
He pointed out that travel time was reduced during the trial period due to lesser number of vehicles on the road.
“I request Delhi people to continue with Odd-Even Plan voluntarily as it is in interest of the state,” he said and appealed to the masses.
The CM invited residents of Delhi to reach Chhatrasal Stadium at 3 pm on Sunday to celebrate the success of the scheme and also thank all those stakeholders who were involved in implementing the novel formula.
Transport minister Gopal Rai said the pollution was reduced over the last 15 days. He said a total of 9,140 challans were done for not following the Odd-Even scheme.