Delhi driving restrictions in force from New Year's Day in bid to clear pollution

Alternate-day car ban in place in Indian capital, with 27 categories of motorist exempt including female drivers and the prime minister

Delhi is to implement a fortnight-long driving ban for certain cars from New Year's Day in an experiment critics say falls far short of what is needed to lower the Indian capital's lethal pollution levels.

For two weeks from Friday, only alternate-day travel will be permitted between 8am and 8pm for private cars with odd- and even-numbered licence plates, while thousands of trucks carrying commercial goods will be discouraged from driving through the city.