Delhi’s #OddEven Policy: 10 Things You Can Do To Comply & Make Delhi Livable

“Ask Not What Your Country Can Do For You”. John F. Kennedy’s Inaugural Address, January 20, 1961.

#OddEven Policy goes into effect on January 1 which leaves us leaving in Delhi very little time to find alternatives & plan to get things organized once the rule kicks into effect. While the rule cracks the whip primarily on private car owners, it has far reaching impact on everyone including those who travel by public transport and/or use cabs. However, owners of Private Vehicles have been ridiculed for being elitists and crying out the loudest since they are directly impacted. I have been very vocal on Twitter in the thread here but all reservations aside, I will comply with the rule and ensure I do it honestly and to the best of my ability.

I did write a post couple of days ago about 12 things the Delhi Government can do, however, the onus to make our lives better rest squarely with each one of us. We Delhi-ites are known to find jugaad for everything we do and that infamously holds true for compliance with #OddEven with several ideas up for grabs if you wish to not comply and protest against the policy. However, I would ask you to reconsider and consider answering one question as a law abiding tax paying citizen

“What can I do in my individual capacity to alleviate Delhi’s Pollution, comply with #OddEven Rule and help Delhi become livable again?”

This post attempts to address that and here are some simple ideas that I hope will save you time of discovery and wracking your brains to find WHAT you can do

1. Plant more Trees/Saplings/Plants : Improve Outside Air Quality

Enough has been said with how plants help fight pollution. A simple Google Search leads to plenty of hits, hence, please find one that interests you, ask your social circle if they have committed to such an activity earlier and contribute to increasing the green cover in YOUR Delhi

• Plant a tree yourself
• Influence your gardener in the local park to do so
• Adopt a tree (http://www.plantatreeindia.org/index.html)
• RWAs can be great help as they manage maintenance funds for the community and help with green cover in your colony/township

2. Use Indoor Plants for better Air Quality inside your home

• Suggest you read Nikhil Pahwa’s Article here: http://www.nikhilpahwa.com/breathe/
• View this Ted Talk by Kamal Meattle http://www.ted.com/talks/kamal_meattle_on_how_to_grow_your_own_fresh_air?language=en
• Make the decision that wont hurt even if it doesn’t alleviate indoor air pollution
• Use Air Purifiers though they are a bomb to invest in but these have been reported to significantly impact AQI

3. Ditch the car and opt to use Public Transport but plan your alternative to last mile connectivity

• Public Transport is robust and connects Delhi end-to-end but the proverbial but is that it is also overused and does not offer a seamless alternative to ditching your car altogether
• Connect with your office colleagues and find out who can drop/pick you up from a metro station to remove your dependence on autos/rickshaws to get to work
• Same as above with neighbors whose work timings match yours
• Plenty of ride sharing #startups provide innovative and cost effective methods to enable last mile connectivity from/to public transport hubs. Pls consider spending time to download the apps, reviewing the connectivity offered and most importantly requesting new routes. I have done that already and believe I will be contacted when the route becomes available on their platform. Some options are : Shuttl, ZipGo, Ola Shuttle etc

4. Engage with RWA’s /Within Local Community to find Ride Share Partners

• The best ride share partners you can trust easier than absolute strangers, synch up to arrange meeting points for pick up/drops are those who reside within the same locality as you do
• Some RWAs have already started asking for place of work, timings etc to help matches within the members of the association and reduce the burden of managing commute on #OddEven days
• If that is not the case, contact the president/committee members and start a local drive. It may be time consuming to begin with but will have benefits that outweigh the initial time invested

5. Sign up for Car Pooling/Ride Sharing with others

• The easiest most convenient and least problematic option is ride sharing (utilizing the same means of transport — bus or even auto)
• Car Pooling helps while hiring a cab to subsidize your ride cost or even offer your own car as a possible ride share option for others plying on the same route and earn some extra bucks. Uber has started #DelhiRidesDelhi , details here

6. Make your rides on public transportation comfortable & productive

Travel light, comfortable making it easy for yourself and for others as well.

• Opt to buy lunch/snacks instead of carrying home cooked food
• Invest in footwear that will enable you to walk fast and doesn’t dilute your personal style, choose to keep work appropriate footwear at work so that you can change into them when you land up
• Try leaving your laptop at work instead of lugging it to/fro everyday
• Identify your Digital Indulgence: Games, Books, Music, Movies and load your mobile phone and/or other devices before hand

(i) Download music/movies (legally) or choose to sign up for services that allow songs playback when offline — Save Data, Remove the frustration from long metro rides with corridors of missing telco connectivity

(ii) Equip your e-book reader with books you enjoy reading, again digital is better than physical to make your travel lighter

• Noise canceling headphones can be useful but you wouldn’t want people trampling all over you when you don’t hear their “Excuse Me” pleas, hence , buy headphones that are comfortable and suitable for extended use

7. Influence policy changes at your place of work to allow Work From Home (WFH) at least one day a week

Corporate’s must co-operate however its also up to us to raise the issue of a clean commute with them and help form an opinion that can translate into policy.

Research indicates WFH can help productivity and overall employee well-being and I remain a strong advocate having done this for an extended period in my career

8. Plan/Organize your shopping trips for everyday items like grocery etc on Allowed Days only

Plying your car inside your colony also does pollute and I know that lugging weight around isn’t comfortable hence plan ahead of time and organize your shopping list in advance to buy on allowed days only or have home delivery scheduled

9. Proactively report pollution causing activities and support government administration

You are responsible to report activities that you know are causing pollution: smaller incidents like your local sweeper burning leaves in a small puddle by the road can be handled by you independent of authorities but if you find larger indiscretions, please report it to Delhi Pollution Control Committee

This article says that the Delhi Gov has cracked the whip & deployed personnel to track and manage pollution causing activities

10. Reduce your overall Carbon Footprint

• Buy local produce instead of from high priced grocery chains
• Be mindful of how much electricity is used and wasted in unplougged appliances, geysers that remain switched on and to illuminate rooms/walkways in the house when no one is present
• Other more wonderful ideas are found in plenty online but one source I particularly liked was: https://www.carbonfund.org/reduce