The Maharashtra government said the odd-even scheme, which has been introduced by the AAP government in Delhi to curb pollution, can be applied in Mumbai if it is successful in the national capital.
"We are examining the scheme, if it is successful, it can be applied to Mumbai as well so that traffic congestion and pollution reduces in the city. We will accept all that is necessary," PTI quoted BJP leader and Maharashtra Finance Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar as saying.
Mungantiwar's statement was in response to the Nationalist Congress Party's demand to implement the odd-even formula in Mumbai as it will reduce "as many as 50% vehicles per day on the roads".
"We need to implement the even-odd car number formula on roads of Mumbai as is being done in Delhi to make Mumbai pollution free," NCP Mumbai President Sachin Ahir had said.
"This will also help in reducing the city's carbon footprint as 26 per cent of green house gas emissions are caused by using petroleum products. In addition to that the city is also seeing an increase in number of tankers, trucks, buses each day," Ahir added.
Mungantiwar said the state government is open to the idea of application of the odd-even scheme, but they need to first analyse its result in Delhi.
"We will do whatever it can and take in all ideas to reduce traffic and pollution levels in Mumbai. Delhi has started with this experiment. The results will take time to show... "If we feel the experiment is successful, it can be applied anywhere in the country," Mungantiwar further said.
Delhi brought the odd-even plan into force on 1 January for 15 days, with exemptions on Sundays. Under this scheme, private vehicles, excluding two-wheelers, with odd number plates are allowed to ply only on odd dates and those with even number plates are allowed on roads on even dates.
The Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's AAP government on Tuesday said a "definitive declining trend" was observed in the levels of Particulate Matter (PM 2.5) after the implementation of odd-even scheme compared to the data available for the same period in 2014.
The government said the PM 2.5 level in 13 locations in Delhi was recorded at less than 300, "which proves reduction in comparison to previous years at the same time by at least 100 units", according to a PTI report. Samples from 20 locations across Delhi was collected to check the pollution level.
Scientists at Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) also said, "80% of PM2.5 air pollution is caused by vehicular traffic and reduction in its levels, even in outer areas of Delhi shows that reduction of four wheeled vehicles on roads since the New Year Day is having a positive impact," The Times of India reported.
Although the AAP government has claimed positive impact on pollution after the application of the odd-even scheme, the Delhi High Court has suggested it to end it by Friday as people are facing inconvenience due to "inadequate" public transport.
It also asked the government to submit a report on pollution levels of the last one week, during which the scheme was in force.
"Is it really necessary to have it for two weeks? Can't it be confined to eight days? Can you end it on Friday? People are facing inconvenience," the court told the government.
"It was a pilot project. You must have data (on air pollution) with you now. Show us how much the pollution has reduced. The people of Delhi supported you despite inconvenience. There is no adequate public transport," IANS quoted the HC bench as saying.
