Delhi embraces car restrictions on key working day
New restrictions on private cars, which are being enforced to tackle hazardous pollution levels in Delhi, faced their first serious test on Monday as residents headed back to work following the New Year weekend.
The scheme was launched on Friday and authorities in the Indian capital said that most drivers had complied with the rules, which require private cars with even- and odd-number plates to take to the roads on alternate days until 15 January.
There were fears many would flout the rules on the scheme's first full working day.
But the city's usually clogged roads saw less traffic than normal, police said, suggesting motorists with odd-number plates had sought alternative ways of getting around.
One way of getting people on board was through a full-page advertisement in Monday's newspapers which compared the lungs of a 52-year-old Delhi citizen with those of a resident of a similar age from Himachal Pradesh, a mountainous state in northern India.
"DELHI HAS NOW DECLARED A WAR ON AIR POLLUTION. ON WHICH SIDE ARE YOU?" it asked readers.
Bad air
The car limiting plan is in place between 08:00 and 20:00 daily except on Sundays and the city government has put an additional 3,000 buses into service to handle an increased load.
The city's Metro has also had to deal with a rise in passengers but on Monday, Mangu Singh, the managing director of Delhi Metro Rail Corporation, said the network was operating smoothly.
Taxi operators, which like motorcycles and women drivers, are exempt from the scheme, appeared to witness increased business.
Some residents have even called for the scheme to be made permanent.
Those caught violating the rules face a fine of 2,000 rupees ($30), although many were let off with a verbal warning on Friday and Saturday.
The Press Trust of India said 1,231 people had been fined on Monday.
But what impact has it had on the city's air quality, which the World Health Organization (WHO) says is the world's dirtiest and a Delhi-based environmental group says is responsible for up to 30,000 deaths each year?
A visible layer of smog hovered over the city on Monday and overall pollution levels continued to be deemed "hazardous" on the US embassy's air quality index. It advised the elderly and children to stay indoors and for everyone to avoid physical activity outdoors.
Meanwhile, PM 2.5, the small particles in the air considered dangerous for lungs and the heart, stood at 403.6 micrograms per cubic metre in the Indian capital as of 14:00 - while the safe limit defined by the WHO in 25.