India – s capital Fresh Delhi holds very first – car-free day – to combat filthy air – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

India’s capital Fresh Delhi holds very first ‘car-free day’ to combat filthy air

Volunteers lobbied motorists to take public transport or walk on Fresh Delhi’s car-free day.

AFP: Roberto Schmidt

The Indian capital has held its very first “car-free day” to attempt to improve Fresh Delhi’s notoriously filthy air, but some motorists overlooked signs to keep off the roads.

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal flagged off the initiative by cycling along what would normally be one of the city’s busiest roads, flanked by a duo of hundred bureaucrats and bicycle enthusiasts.

“People should leave their vehicles and use public transport. Since pollution is enhancing in Delhi, there is a need to run, cycle which is also good for health,” Mr Kejriwal said.

Around 8.Five million vehicles ply the city’s roads, which are considered very unsafe for both pedestrians and cyclists.

Authorities have been criticised for failing to curb pollution, in a city ranked by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as having the worst air quality in the world.

The voluntary initiative on Thursday, which lasted five hours, was held on a public holiday when most offices and schools are shut and traffic is thinner anyway.

Cities with the worst air pollution

  1. Delhi, India
  2. Patna, India
  3. Gwalior, India
  4. Raipur, India
  5. Karachi, Pakistan
  6. Peshwar, Pakistan
  7. Rawalpindi, Pakistan
  8. Khoramabad, Iran
  9. Ahmedabad, India
  10. Lucknow, India

Source: World Health Organisation

Cars were seen using a designated “car-free” open up – running from the historic Crimson Fort to India Gate in central Delhi – disregarding volunteers on foot who were encouraging them to turn back.

“It is more of a symbolic gesture at the moment, more of an awareness-raising activity,” Anumita Roychowdhury, executive director of Delhi-based Centre for Science and Environment think tank, said.

“What we need to curb the city’s pollution is simultaneous hard decisions on restraining car usage through parking policies, taxation and scaling up of public transport,” she said.

Delhi’s government is determined to shove ahead with the initiative, planning a “car-free day” once a month in designated sections of the city.

A WHO probe of 1,600 cities released last year showcased Delhi had the world’s highest annual average concentration of puny airborne particles known as PM2.Five – higher even than Beijing.

These enormously fine particles of less than Two.Five micrometres in diameter are linked to enhanced rates of chronic bronchitis, lung cancer and heart disease as they penetrate deep into the lungs and can pass into the bloodstream.

India’s top court, acting on a petition, this month approved a government trial to spank charges on thousands of diesel trucks, which mostly come in the city at night en route to other states, in a bid to reduce traffic.

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