During the commonwealth games, movement of vehicles, especially of those daily trips between Delhi and the National Capital Region towns, could be severely restricted, and even barred from entering the capital. The Delhi government is being forced to consider to quickly bringing air pollution down to acceptable levels during the Games now just four months away; this is just one of the drastic measures. The Central Pollution Control Board will start the country’s first air pollution forecasts with automated monitoring stations in Delhi, as part of cleaning the air.
Delhi Environment secretary Dharmendra said “The Delhi Transport department is working out a plan to levy a fee on motorists driving in the congested areas of the capital before the Games. The step would help in controlling the number of vehicles in busy areas during the sporting event. There has been a quantum jump in the number of vehicles plying on roads in the capital in the last few years and such steps can help in checking the inflow of vehicles on Delhi roads”. It may be noted that the Indian Capital is among the most polluted cities in the world and it has a major problem of the ever-growing number of cars, three and two-wheelers, which also occupy the games for swift movement of athletes and delegates, although 20 percent of the commuting public use them.
Senior Environmental engineer, CPCB, said: “It will account for the dust coming from other states”. The other drastic measure includes stopping of all construction activities at least a fortnight prior to Games, checking the movement of government-owned vehicles and putting a cap on the number of Delhi’s own vehicles on the road.
