This Article is From May 03, 2016

Day 2 Of Hellish Traffic For Delhi, Protests Block Major Roads: 10 Facts

Traffic jams have been reported at major intersections in Delhi as cab drivers continue protests for the second consecutive day.

Highlights

  • Protesters block DND, the highway which links the capital with Noida
  • Taxi drivers are upset with ban that has pulled 30,000 cabs off the road
  • Only CNG cabs can run in the capital, no diesel or petrol cabs: Top Court
New Delhi: It's the second day in a row with hellish heat and unrelenting traffic jams for Delhi as protestors cut off one of the city's busiest highways, the DND or Delhi-Noida Direct, which links the capital with the satellite town of Noida.

  1. The protestors comprise of taxi drivers who are upset with a Supreme Court ban that has pulled 30,000 cabs off the road because they run on diesel or petrol and not greener compressed natural gas (CNG).

  2. On Saturday, judges refused industry requests for more time to switch from diesel and petrol to greener compressed natural gas (CNG). Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari has said that the government will ask the Supreme Court to reconsider its decision.

  3. Many of Delhi's taxis already run on CNG, but the ban applies to 30,000 traditional cabs and some working for app-based Uber and Ola services.

  4. Mr Gadkari said that the government will ask the court to consider the huge problems confronting commuters as well as the exercises it has already undertaken to check pollution.

  5. The Supreme Court has been pressuring authorities to reduce dangerous levels of haze and dust that choke the city, with a string of orders last year including a ban on new, large diesel cars, mainly SUVs.

  6. Angry taxi drivers blocked key intersections in Delhi and the satellite city of Gurgaon on Monday morning, bringing peak-hour traffic to a standstill for hours.

  7. Some drivers said they knew of no available technology to switch from diesel to CNG and would instead be forced to buy new taxis.

  8. A 2014 World Health Organisation survey of more than 1,600 cities ranked Delhi as the most polluted, partly because of the nearly 10 million vehicles on its roads.

  9. The diesel taxi ban comes just days after the end of another two weeks of "odd-even" that kept about one million cars off Delhi's roads.

  10. But Delhi-based research institute TERI said its analysis found the measures had not significantly reduced concentrations of PM 10 and PM 2.5 during the first week. These fine particles measuring less than 2.5 micrometres are linked to higher rates of chronic bronchitis, lung cancer and heart disease.



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