Gadkari dismissive about odd-even traffic scheme

Union Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari on Friday was dismissive about Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's move to relaunch the 'Odd-Even' traffic scheme to control pollution, saying it was not necessary.

Speaking to reporters after Kejriwal announced that the Odd-Even scheme will be back from November 4-15, Gadkari said: "I don't think it is necessary. We have made a new Ring Road, and with that Delhi's pollution has come down a lot. And in my estimate in two years...Rs 50,000 crore has been provided by my department, and the Yamuna Clean Water and Clean Air Scheme are going on, and with that in two years Delhi will be pollution-free."

Gadkari said it is up to the Delhi government to implement the scheme.

Kejriwal said that 1,000 electric buses will be introduced in the national capital and that a bus aggregator policy will be announced soon.

"If you enforce Odd-Even for a long time, the implementation becomes troublesome. As of now, Odd-Even will only be restricted to this time frame," said Kejriwal.

He also asserted that Supreme Court guidelines during Diwali on firecrackers will be sternly enforced. Kejriwal also urged the people of Delhi to take part in tree plantation drives.IANS