NEW DELHI: Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday announced a two-day ‘Odd-Even’ break for the city on account of the 550th birth anniversary celebrations of Guru Nanak.
The announcement followed Sikh organisations urging the Delhi government to relax the car rationing rule, which is currently in force in the city to reduce vehicular emissions, during the celebrations, also called ‘Prakash Parv’, on November 12.
Addressing media persons on the day, the chief minister said that representatives of the Sikh community met him and urged him to suspend the ‘Odd-Even’ scheme on November 11 and 12.
“The 550th Prakash Parv of Shri Guru Nanak Dev Ji is being celebrated through a grand Nagar Kirtan on the 11th and the Guru Parv on the 12th. Lakhs of people from the Sikh community are expected to join the celebrations. Several Sikh organisations came to me with a request to suspend ‘Odd-Even’ for these two days and we have decided to do that,” the chief minister was quoted as saying in a statement later.
On Thursday, a delegation of Sikh leaders, led by Tilaknagar MLA Jarnail Singh, met Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot, seeking a two-day break to the ‘Odd-Even’ plan. The ‘Prakash Parav’ will be celebrated on a grand scale all over the world.
With air pollution in the Capital touching record levels post Diwali, the Kejriwal government notified the return of the much-debated vehicle rationing scheme from November 4. The plan, which mandates plying of odd and even-numbered vehicles on alternate days, will remain in force till November 15.