Heavy rain lashes State, yellow alert in 9 districts today
The Hindu
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM
Heavy rain triggered by cyclonic circulations over the Bay of Bengal and Arabian Sea lashed the State, especially southern Kerala and ghat regions, on Monday night and Tuesday morning, causing waterlogging in city limits and low-lying areas.
According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), Poonjar in Kottayam recorded the highest rainfall of 14 cm in the past 24 hours ending at 8.30 a.m. on Tuesday, followed by Peerumade in Idukki (12 cm), Thiruvananthapuram city and Neyyattinkara (11 cm each), and Thodupuzha in Idukki (10 cm).
A weather bulletin issued by the IMD on Tuesday declared yellow alert in nine districts except in Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Wayanad, Kannur, and Kasaragod, warning of isolated heavy rain. The State is also likely to receive thundershowers till Saturday under the influence of the weather system.
A low-pressure area is expected to form over the Bay of Bengal during the next 48 hours and it is likely to concentrate into a deep depression by Saturday and intensify into a cyclonic storm, says the bulletin.
Several principals of government and private schools in Delhi on Tuesday said the Directorate of Education (DoE) circular from a day earlier, directing schools to conduct classes in ‘hybrid’ mode, had caused confusion regarding day-to-day operations as they did not know how many students would return to school from Wednesday and how would teachers instruct in two modes — online and in person — at once. The DoE circular on Monday had also stated that the option to “exercise online mode of education, wherever available, shall vest with the students and their guardians”. Several schoolteachers also expressed confusion regarding the DoE order. A government schoolteacher said he was unsure of how to cope with the resumption of physical classes, given that the order directing government offices to ensure that 50% of the employees work from home is still in place. On Monday, the Commission for Air Quality Management in the National Capital Region and Adjoining Areas (CAQM) had, on the orders of the Supreme Court, directed schools in Delhi-NCR to shift classes to the hybrid mode, following which the DoE had issued the circular. The court had urged the Centre’s pollution watchdog to consider restarting physical classes due to many students missing out on the mid-day meals and lacking the necessary means to attend classes online. The CAQM had, on November 20, asked schools in Delhi-NCR to shift to the online mode of teaching.