New Delhi: Fifty-seven per cent of residents of the national capital region (NCR), including Delhi and adjoining areas in Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, do not support the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government’s proposed odd-even traffic scheme as a solution to the ongoing air pollution problem, a survey has revealed.
Under the odd-even scheme, private cars with number plates ending in odd numbers are allowed on roads on odd dates and vice-versa (with some exemptions).
Conducted by community social media platform LocalCircles, the survey also found that despite the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) in NCR ordering immediate measures last week to tackle air pollution in the national capital, residents felt only a few such actions have been implemented on the ground yet.
The survey drew a response from 19,000 people living across Delhi-NCR. While 64 per cent of the respondents were men, 36 per cent were women. Among those who participated, 8,225 responded to the question about the odd-even scheme and 11,000 answered queries regarding the on-ground implementation of anti-pollution measures.
LocalCircles said 57 per cent of the respondents did not support the odd-even scheme proposed by the Delhi government, while 35 per cent were in its favour, and eight per cent were undecided.
When it came to the on-ground implementation of measures to curb air pollution — including closure of schools and colleges, ban on diesel generator sets, ban on construction, deployment of water sprinklers and anti-smog guns, and work-from-home for 50 per cent of staff — 59 per cent felt that the closing down of schools and colleges was the sole major step taken by the authorities.
Seventeen per cent of residents said that water sprinklers and anti-smog guns had been deployed (in their areas) to curb the air pollution, while just 8 per cent said they had seen other steps, such as restriction on construction and demolition work, and work-from-home, being enforced.
The survey, whose results were released Monday, comes as Delhi’s Air Quality Index (AQI) hovers in the “severe” to “very poor category” since Diwali on 4 November.
In another survey, dated 15 November, LocalCircles sought to check the extent of air pollution’s impact on the health of people in Delhi-NCR. According to that survey, “86 per cent of families in the Delhi-NCR region have someone experiencing 1 or more ailments due to polluted air. These include sore throat, cough, congestion, burning eyes, headache and breathing difficulties”.
Releasing the findings of the latest survey Monday, LocalCircles concluded, “The focus of the CAQM and the three state governments (Delhi, UP and Haryana) according to people should be to rationalise the measures and then ensure their implementation as a solution to control air pollution”.
(Edited by Poulomi Banerjee)
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