Delhi Chief Minister seeks global institutes help for staggered office hours

New Delhi (PTI): Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday met World Resources Institute (WRI) CEO O P Aggarwal and discussed ways to stagger office hours in the city as one of the measures to reduce congestion and air pollution.

According to a statement, Kejriwal said that his government is taking all possible steps to prepare for the onset of the stubble burning (parali) and the winter season. Aggarwal is a renowned expert on transportation and urban policy issues.

WRI has been associated with the Delhi government in several route rationalization initiatives among others, including aiding the government design staggering of office timings during the odd-even scheme, the statement said. "In addition, we are also pursuing the idea of staggering office hours to cut down on vehicular emissions due to congestion. This is a tried and tested method used around the world," the statement quoting the Chief Minister said. Kejriwal had invited Aggarwal to discuss the means to stagger office hours in offices in Delhi, the government statement said.

The Chief Minister asked Aggarwal on how the state government can effectively stagger office timings to tackle the problems of traffic congestion and air pollution in the city. Kejriwal also expressed his desire to bring industry associations on board since several industrial areas can also implement the staggered hour plan. "Delhi has multiple choke points that are congested because they are on routes to offices where a large number of people travel every day. We will identify such points and routes and explore possibilities of staggering hours for those who use such arterial routes," chief minister said.

On September 25, Kejriwal met Lt Governor Anil Baijal and said the AAP govenment was planning to stagger office hours in the city as one of the measures to reduce congestion and air pollution.