12-member committee to make Delhi car-free day a success

NEW DELHI, September 28: Delhi government today formed a 12-member committee to make 'Car-Free Day' on October 22 a success. Under "Aao Ab Bus Karein" campaign and its slogan 'Jan Parivahan-Swasth Jeevan,' government has decided to organise a cycle rally on October 22 in the morning. Transport Minister Gopal Rai said that the agenda of this campaign focuses on use of public transport, one-family-one car, car pooling, cycling, lane driving, checking vehicles on time and walk for daily routine work. "Before observing 'Car-Free Day' on the road stretch between Red Fort and India Gate, Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) will be asked to check pollution level on this stretch so that we can measure impact of pollution level by the 'Car-Free Day'," Rai told reporters here. He said that government has formed a committee having 12 members from Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC), Delhi Integrated Multi-Modal Transit System (DIMTS), Delhi Traffic Police, Delhi Police, Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC), DPCC, Public Works Department (PWD), Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) , New Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC), ASI, Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP) and EMBARQ. "We have called the committee's meeting on October 1 to discuss the preparations of 'Car-Free Day'. Besides, government will also hold a meeting with all MLAs, representatives of different categories on October 9 to make the campaign a success," he said. The Transport Minister said that government would observe 'Car-Free Day' on the 22nd of every month on different road stretches. According to plan, government will ensure that no car is allowed on this stretch on October 22, a day when people will celebrate Dussehra. Earlier this month, Rai had directed DIMTS to bring the state's taxis and autorickshaws under the purview of 'PoochO' app so that people are able to hire such vehicles using this app on the lines of other app-based private taxi service providers.