As the third edition of odd-even scheme is set to begin from Monday, the Delhi government has geared up to make the scheme a success. The government has deployed 2000 additional buses and 61 more trips by metro to cater to commuters in the national capital.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal held a review meeting with the senior government officials where he asked them to ensure that no person faces inconvenience due to the scheme.
The government has also issued advisories to Ola and Uber to not surge prices during the scheme, and to autorickshaws and e-rickshaws to avoid over-charging from commuters.
During the implementation of the 12-day scheme, a person violating the odd-even rules will be booked under the Motor Vehicle Act and will have to pay a fine of Rs 4000 against Rs 2000 during the previous edition of the scheme.
Sub-divisional magistrate (SDM), tehsildars, traffic police, transport department, and assistant traffic inspector teams will be able to levy fines on the violators.
“The most significant measure has been taken by the Delhi Transport Corporation, in which 2,000 additional buses will be engaged for the public commute…All cluster buses will also be deployed along with the entire fleet of DTC buses,” the statement said.
The DMRC will conduct additional 61 additional trips and a total of 5,100 trips through 294 trains during the scheme.
“To ensure the smooth functioning of all the metro lines and trains, 35 teams will be deployed at all the major metro stations. Additional manpower will also be deployed to manage the ticketing system due to the increasing inflow of people during the odd-even implementation,” the statement said.
Around 300 traffic inspectors and assistant traffic inspectors (ATI) will be deployed in two shifts during the odd-even drive.
The ATIs and revenue department officials will issue challans to the violators of the scheme as well as ensure proper enforcement of the schemes at the 200 locations identified by the Delhi Transport Department.
The government said that a special training programme was conducted for traffic inspectors, ATI and revenue department officials of the DTC from October 30 to 31 as directed by Transport Minister Kailash Gehlot.
The challan books, receipts books, and guidelines have been issued to the DTC officials during the training programme.
The government has also decided to stagger working hours of its offices during the scheme. Two timings on the openings of government offices have been fixed: 9:30 am and 10:30 am.
However, private offices in the city will not come under the government order.