In order to ensure that the pollution levels in the city go down to acceptable levels during the Commonwealth Games, the government is likely to ask the operators of commercial vehicles to go for alternative routes to ferry consignments across the states.
The earlier date fixed to restrict the entry of commercial vehicles was August 1. However, the government is doing a re-thinking and the final decision is likely to be taken after a Cabinet meeting.
The discussion on vehicle restrictions for pollution control came earlier at a high-level meeting chaired by chief minister Sheila Dikshit with the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) officials. The meeting had a discussion on analysis of air pollution and public health concerns, said a Delhi government official.
“In its analysis, the CSE had said that Delhi needs a combination of long-lasting reforms as well as a contingent plan to clean up its air before the Games,” confirmed a CSE official. The official added, “There was an identification of a few steps that would need to be taken to make the city’s air Games-friendly. One of the steps was to restrict private vehicle movement between cities and use of public transport to be encouraged,” said a Delhi government official.
“ We had also discussed in the meeting to stop the truck traffic entry to the city,” a CSE official said. Meanwhile, it was also discussed to impose congestion tax for controlling truck traffic with in the city, added the official.
However, the Delhi government has already taken some key steps. It has relocated its polluting industries and stalled further expansion of thermal power generation inside the city, said the Delhi government officials. However, the rapidly increasing motorised personal vehicle fleet remains the main challenge, said a senior Delhi government official.