App-based cabs from other states will not be allowed to enter Delhi under yesterday's Supreme Court suggestion meant to curb the annual, spiralling pollution, said state Transport Minister Gopal Rai, adding his department has been asked to implement the suggestion of the court.
Uber, a ride-hailing app, however, says there has been no such communication from the Delhi transport department.
"While we haven't received any order from transport department, we want to reiterate that all the cars on the Uber platform in Delhi are CNG or electric and shared mobility helps more people commute in fewer cars," said Uber in a statement.
Industry sources too said there is no official order from transport department at the moment.
The Delhi government plans to present two studies before the top court on the efficacy of the odd-even road rationing -- scheduled to begin after Diwali -- the minister said in a video statement posted on X, formerly Twitter. These include a joint study by the Harvard and Chicago State University in the US and one by the Delhi Technical University.
At a hearing yesterday, the Supreme Court had called schemes like odd-even a matter of "mere optics" and suggested that the Delhi government consider allowing cabs on roads that have Delhi registration.
"We may also note that there is a large number of the App based taxis in Delhi which have registrations in different States. If we look at the roads, each one is carrying only one passenger," the court had said, asking the state if it could stop it as an additional step to control pollution.
Slamming the odd-even scheme already announced, the court questioned if there is any study to back up such a move. "Have you evaluated how it worked in previous years? Such schemes are only optics," said the judges, who were hearing a petition on the rising pollution. The Delhi government has said the scheme will be implemented once the court reviews it.
Over the last week, the air quality in the national capital had dropped abysmally. The locals have been waking up to a thick haze and the amount of noxious particulate matter has been seen to be four times the permissible limit in many areas.
Today, satellite pictures showed a massive black plume of smoke covering the entire north India. A big contributor were the fields of Punjab and Haryana, where stubble burning is an annual ritual.
The court underscored the need to stop stubble burning – a tricky issue for the Aam Aadmi Party which governs both Delhi and Punjab. "We want it stopped. We don't know how you do it, it's your job. But it must be stopped. Something has to be done immediately," the judges had said.
Chief Minister Rekha Gupta announced in the assembly on Wednesday that the Delhi government will introduce a new policy for issuing Pollution Under Control (PUC) certificates to vehicles from other states, in a bid to tackle air pollution.
Children exposed to higher levels of air pollution in early and mid-childhood may have weaker connections between key brain regions that can highly impact their thinking and controlling capacity, according to a study.
Delhi Environment Minister Manjinder Sirsa has accused Arvind Kejriwal's AAP - in power before the BJP won the February election - of allowing more than 1.08 lakh vehicles to run on city roads despite each emitting high levels of carbon monoxide.
An integrated command and control centre has been proposed in the 2025-26 Delhi budget, presented by Chief Minister Rekha Gupta on Tuesday, for real-time monitoring of air quality, water pollution, noise levels, and waste management.
As part of broader strategy to tackle the expected winter pollution peak, the Delhi government will install six new air quality monitoring stations across the national capital over the next three months, Environment Minister said.
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