Delhi govt, green bodies claim city air got cleaner after odd-even drive - The air you inhale is cleaner, Delhi's Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP government has said. In fact, according to the government, pollution in the national capital was less by as much as 50 per cent on Saturday.

The much-hyped odd-even scheme that is ending on the 15th of this month is being accredited for this spectacular turnaround. The latest data gathered by mobile teams of the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) on Saturday confirms this.

A Delhi government statement said on Sunday, "The PM 2.5 air pollution level collected from 18 locations on Saturday showed recordings of less than 100 (ug/m3) at nine locations, which is up to 50 per cent less than the average recordings since the odd-even regulation was put in place on January 1 for fourwheelers."

Green bodies have the same opinion about the assessment made by the government. An analysis by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) said maximum pollution during the odd-even run has been the lowest so far in this year as compared to 2015.

A recent report by IIT Kanpur said that Delhi faces a severe air pollution problem due to the number of sources that are affecting the ambient air quality. Vehicular pollution in Delhi has risen to 72 per cent in 2000 from 64 per in 1990, whereas petrol and diesel consumption have risen by 400 per cent and 300 per cent, respectively.

Many residents are content with the newly-implemented scheme. Gaurav Singh, a Lajpat Nagar resident, said, "There is no traffic on roads even during weekdays. Due to less number of vehicles on the road, the pollution level might have also improved. The government should continue with the scheme."

However, doctors in the Capital have not seen any downtrend in the number of respiratory illness cases.