AAP govt needs 'effective strategy' to push plan to fight air pollution: NGO

NEW DELHI: The proposed move to have 'odd- even' restrictions on the plying of private vehicles in the national capital can "catalyse" the change needed to purify the air in Delhi, a green NGO said today while calling for "public support" and an "effective strategy" for pushing such an initiative.

The Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) said it "welcomes the firm decision of the Delhi government" as the city has "little choice" but to take recourse to "aggressive and drastic immediate measures" to check air pollution.

Lauding the proposal mooted by the ruling AAP to "cut down traffic volume, eliminate emissions from coal-powered plants and push for tighter emission standards to curb killer air pollution in the city", CSE executive director Anumita Roychowdhury said that "these measures promise to catalyse change needed to bend the curve of ever rising air pollution levels in the city and prevent premature deaths and illness".

The action agenda announced by Delhi government envisages, among other things, that personal vehicles bearing odd and even registration numbers would ply on alternate days from January 1, 2016.

Emergency services and public transport will not be under the ambit of the restriction.

CSE has urged Delhi government to "detail out an effective implementation strategy and organise public outreach for glitch-free implementation" of its plans.

"Alarming trends in air pollution levels in the capital city and its devastating impacts on public health have made the city desperate for urgent solutions. Such choking peak levels demand aggressive and drastic immediate measures," Roychowdhury said.

"Small incremental steps will not help. If the public demand for clean air has merited this action, this needs even stronger public support to make it work as well.

"The city has little choice when there is at least one death per hour due to air pollution related diseases and the lung of every third child is impaired," she said.