Delhi govt manages over 800 private buses against target of 2k for odd-even scheme

The Delhi government's plan of hiring 2,000 private buses to boost the public transport system bore partial success as only 800 vehicles were registered by late Sunday evening, a day before the odd-even vehicle rationing scheme comes into force. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had recently said that the government will deploy 2,000 private buses in view of the 12-day odd-even scheme being implemented in the backdrop of severe pollution levels in the city.

A government official said that 837 private buses were registered by Sunday evening under the scheme. "The number may go over 1,000 as the process will continue for some more hours," he said.

Under the scheme, which will be implemented from 8 am to 8 pm till November 15, non-transport four-wheeled vehicles with registration numbers ending with an odd digit (1, 3, 5, 7, 9) will not be allowed on the roads on November 4, 6, 8, 12 and 14. Similarly, vehicles with registration numbers ending with an even digit (0, 2, 4, 6, 8) will not be allowed on the roads on November 5, 7, 9, 11, 13 and 15.

The scheme will also test the resilience of the public transport system in the city which has not been adequate as per the needs of a growing number of commuters. There are around 5,600 Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) and Cluster scheme buses which will be the mainstay of transport needs of people during odd-even days, besides the Delhi Metro trains.

The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation will conduct 61 additional trips and a total of 5,100 trips through 294 trains during odd-even days. Cab aggregators Ola and Uber have announced that they will not employ surge pricing during the scheme to assist the Delhi government in its fight against air pollution.

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