Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) legislator from Chandni Chowk, Alka Lamba, on Monday urged Delhiites and politicians to carpool to help reduce pollution and traffic in the city.
In a live video posted on her official Twitter handle, Ms. Lamba is seen carpooling with AAP MLAs Naresh Yadav from Mehrauli and Parmila Tokas from R.K. Puram to reach the Delhi Assembly on Monday.
VIP motorcade
The video shows a VIP motorcade of four cars overtaking the MLA’s car at Ring Road near Yamuna bazaar. Though the identity of the VIP in the video is not confirmed, Ms. Lamba claims it belongs to former Hayana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda.
“You can see how four cars, police security and petrol is wasted on the commute of a former Chief Minister, whereas three sitting MLAs of Delhi are travelling in the same car to save petrol, reduce pollution and control traffic congestion,” Ms. Lamba states in the video.
She claims that three to four legislators have travelled in the same car in the past too. “If I could, I would get out of the car and ask him [the VIP] to carpool instead of wasting all these resources. In our case, if three MLAs take three cars it would add as many cars on the roads, contributing to pollution and jams,” she said.
Responsible leaders
Speaking to The Hindu, Ms. Lamba said the VIP culture in the country will only be done away with if leaders and people sitting in positions of power lead by example.
“I cannot ask my people to use public transport and not take out their cars, if I am using four cars to travel. Moreover, carpooling or using the Metro or travelling by bus is a convenient way to travel. Especially, with Diwali ahead, the roads will be packed with vehicles, causing jams. This way we can help ourselves and the city,” she said.
Ms. Lamba also appealed to the public to refrain from burning crackers this Diwali.