Bengaluru, Nov 11 (DHNS): Karnataka will introduce the odd-even vehicle rationing scheme in Bengaluru if it proves to be a success in tackling air pollution in New Delhi, Home Minister Ramalinga Reddy said Saturday.

"If it works in Delhi, then we'll ask our transport department to roll it out and also discuss it with the chief minister," Reddy told reporters here.

The odd-even scheme, in which odd numbered cars have to ply on odd dates and even numbered cars on even dates, will come into effect for five days from Monday (November 13) in the national capital, where air pollution has reached alarming levels with thick smog engulfing the region. The odd-even scheme was enforced in Delhi twice in the past - January and April.

Reddy, however, said the odd-even scheme alone may not suffice for a city like Bengaluru where the vehicle population has soared through the years. "In 2013, Bengaluru had 54 lakh vehicles. In four years, nearly 12 lakh vehicles have been added. Pollution cannot be tackled unless the number of vehicles is reduced," Reddy, who was earlier Karnataka's transport minister, said.

The government is also taking steps to widen arterial roads in Bengaluru to decongest traffic, Reddy said. "Sarjapur Road, Hennur Main Road and Bannerghatta Road will be widened based on the new Transfer of Development Rights (TDR) rules," he said, citing examples of how road widening helped vehicular movement in Hyderabad and Secunderabad.

Reddy added that the problem of haphazard parking of vehicles on the streets can be addressed only if each house has space for vehicle parking. "There's a law to this effect that house owners should be responsible for parking vehicles, but the violation is very high," he said.

CM candidate: Ramalinga Reddy bats for Siddaramaiah

Home Minister Ramalinga Reddy has joined a growing list of Congress leaders expressing support for Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to get a second term if the party retains power in the 2018 Assembly polls, an issue that has already created an internal rift in the party.

"I'm not aspiring for the number one post," Reddy told reporters, when asked if he was a chief ministerial candidate.
"Whoever is number one now will continue to be number one when we win the election," he said, referring to Siddaramaiah.

Siddaramaiah himself has asked for a second term and has found support by some leaders. Recently, Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) working president S R Patil urged party workers to ensure "Congress came back to power to form a government led by Siddaramaiah." Even Water Resources Minister M B Patil, who has staked claim to become chief minister one day, said his turn would come after Siddaramaiah finished his second term.

That Siddaramaiah is being projected as the chief minister candidate has not gone down too well with a section of leaders. While the party high command has announced that the 2018 polls will be fought under Siddaramaiah's leadership, he was not announced as the chief ministerial face.

KPCC president G Parameshwara, who was projected as the next chief minister by the party's Yeshwanthpur MLA S T Somashekar, has clarified that the Congress legislature party (CLP) will take the final call.

Ramalinga Reddy said his daughter Sowmya will win if the party decides to give her the ticket. "Likewise, the sons and daughters of other leaders should be given tickets only if they are qualified," Reddy said.