THE UNION surface transport ministry and the Delhi administration are at loggerheads over how to combat the capital's traffic pollution. Early in this year, the ministry suggested to the city administration that odd and even numbered vehicles should be allowed to ply on alternate days. The ministry's note urged the rule should be "ruthlessly imposed on all private vehicles including those of senior government officials and ministers".
Alarmed by the potential responsibility of ensuring half the city's vehicles are off the roads on any given day --including those belonging to its more VVIPs, the Delhi administration came up with a counter-suggestion: "colour-coordinate" the city's traffic by requiring all vehicles in Delhi be painted in any of the seven colours and then assigning the days of the week on which vehicles of a particular colour would be barred from the roads.
While the merits of the two proposals are being thrashed out Delhi continues to live upto its status of being the world's third most polluted city. A recent study by a local environmental group, The Green, points out the 90 lakhs citzens of India's capital breathe a staggering 14 lakh kg of pollutants emitted daily by the city's 20 lakh vehicles. The study contends the incidence of respiratory diseases, such as asthma, bronchitis and tuberculosis, is 12 times higher in Delhi than the national average. The study estimates one-third of Delhi residents suffer from some form of respiratory disease.
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