Lack of inputs on waste management by local bodies hits PCB efforts
The Hindu
NGT Bench had asked pollution panel to collect status report
The lack of proper information from local bodies on solid waste management has hit the efforts by enforcement agencies to act against the shortcomings. In a report filed before the National Green Tribunal (NGT) on June 3, the State Pollution Control Board (PCB) pointed out that the data collection process was affected due to the lack of timely inputs from local bodies. The local bodies had not provided evidence on the number of material collection and resource facilities in their jurisdiction, workers engaged for door-to-door collection or segregation of waste, and centralised or decentralised facilities for solid waste management, it said. The board said that a uniform format was being prepared to get convincing data on the solid waste management situation. It would be forwarded to all local bodies, according to the report.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.