New Delhi: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday announced that the commuters in the national capital will not have to face the Odd-Even restrictions on November 11 and 12 during the celebration of 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev.
The decision came after people from the Sikh community requested the government to relax the rules as they celebrate the birth anniversary of their religion’s founder on November 12, Kejriwal told media here.
“Several Sikh organisations came to me with a request to suspend Odd-Even for these two days and we have decided to do that,” he said.
The national capital is witnessing Odd-Even scheme from November 4 and it will continue till November 15 to keep the air pollution in check.
During the two days –November 11 and 12, various religious functions will take place, Kejriwal said.
“The 550th Prakash Parv of Guru Nanak Dev is being celebrated through a grand Nagar Kirtan on November 11 and the Guru Parv on November 12. Lakhs of people from the Sikh community are expected to join the celebrations,” he told the media.
“During the celebrations, the people have to travel and to ensure a hassle-free movement of traffic, we have decided to lift the Odd-Even rules,” he said.
The Odd-Even is a road rationing system in which vehicles with registration number ending with even digits — 0, 2, 4, 6 and 8 — are allowed to run on even dates, and those ending with odd numbers 1, 3, 5, 7 and 9 will ply on odd dates.
The scheme aims to curb the number of cars on roads and to limit the pollution caused by them. It is applicable in Delhi from Monday to Saturday between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m with violation of the scheme attracting a penalty of Rs 4,000.
A delegation of Sikh leaders led by AAP MLA Jarnail Singh had met Transport Minister Kailash Gehlot to request the waiver.
Speaking to the media, Singh said that he is happy that the government has lifted the Odd-Even.