Why are women, two-wheelers exempted from odd-even formula, Delhi HC asks Kejriwal govt

New Delhi: Delhi government's odd-even formula, which is all set to kick-start from January 1, 2016, has invited a new controversy, two days before its start.

A petition has been filed in the Delhi High Court questioning the logic behind exempting women drivers and two-wheelers from the restrictions.

Hearing the plea, the Delhi High Court on Wednesday asked the Delhi government to file a reply in response to the petition. The next hearing in the case has been scheduled for January 6.

Delhi government has exempted at least 25 categories of vehicles, which includes near about 55 lakh two-wheelers, that are said to be the biggest vehicular polluters in the national capital. Statistics say that exemption to such a large number of vehicle would hardly solve the purpose of controlling Delhi's alarming air-pollution.

Experts say that on any given day of odd-even car formula, only 5.3 lakh cars can be only kept off the roads. This makes up to marginal 6 percent of the total number of registered vehicles in Delhi.