Delhi odd-even rule for cars back from November 13 . Five things you need to know

With pollution levels expected to go up further in Delhi after Diwali, the Arvind Kejriwal government today announced that the odd-even car scheme will be enforced in the city from November 13 to 20. A decision to extend the scheme will be made after November 20. The odd-even scheme permits cars to operate on alternate days based on their odd or even number plates. Vehicles with odd number plates will be allowed to ply on odd dates and similarly vehicles with even registration numbers will be allowed on road on alternate days, Delhi environment minister Gopal Rai said.

According to the minister, vehicles with numbers ending in odd digits, 1,3,5,7 and 9 will be allowed to ply on odd dates during November 13 and 20. And those with even numbers 0,2,46 and 8 will be allowed on roads on even dates, the minister said.

• 'Odd-even' car restriction scheme was first introduced in 2016 by the AAP government to control vehicular pollution and later implemented in 2017 and 2019 also.
• Dring the 2019, odd-even restrictions, two-wheelers and electric vehicles were exempted from the restrictions, but not CNG-driven vehicles.
• Women-only vehicles with children aged up to 12 years and vehicles occupied by physically-disabled persons were also exempted
• Violations of the odd-even rule were fined Rs 4,000 in 2019.
• The odd even rule also applied to vehicles of other states too.

The Delhi state government also decided to suspend physical classes in all schools for all classes, except for students of grades X and XII preparing for board exams.

The minister said that the police has been instructed to strictly enforce the ban on firecrackers in the national capital during Diwali. He also requested the states bordering Delhi to take steps to reduce pollution during Diwali.

The Delhi environment minister said that if the wind speed increases over the next few days, according to the forecast, the pollution level is likely to come down. "As per the forecast, the wind speed will be 12km/hour tomorrow, 7th November and if the speed reaches 10 to 12 km/hour, then there is a possibility that the level of pollution accumulated here might disperse. Similarly, the wind speed will be 8-10 km/hour on 8th November. It is expected that the speed of wind will increase on 7th and 8th November which will reduce the level of pollution," he said.