A Preliminary Study on Effect of Odd-Even Rule on Air Pollution Scenarios of Delhi

Abstract

Air pollution is the major reason for health problems in the urban areas. The status of air
pollution in Delhi has undergone huge changes in terms of the levels of various pollutants
and the control actions taken to reduce them. In order to reduce the peak level of pollution,
Delhi is piloting its first ever-emergency action. This is observed to be consistent with global
best practice. Vehicles, second highest emitters in the city are found to be responsible for
high exposure and various health impacts. Smog peak reduction will need action on vehicles.
In order to resolve this long-standing issue, the Delhi Government decided to restrict the
vehicular mobility based on odd-even registration numbered vehicles on odd-even dates from
1 January 2016 – a move intended to cut vehicle emission by half. This present study is an
attempt to assess the impact of odd-even rule on Delhi’s environment before and during the
implementation. In this study, the concentrations of various pollutants at different locations
were measured and their impact was evaluated quantitatively.