Mayor, officials inspect landfill site
The Hindu
One more waste-to-energy plant mooted at Jawaharnagar
Special Chief Secretary, Municipal Administration & Urban Development, Arvind Kumar announced that one more waste-to-energy plant will be developed at the Jawaharnagar landfill, in order to reduce the burden of waste generated from the city.
Development of the plant may take up to 18 months’ time after environmental clearance, which is expected in November, he said, after inspecting the dump yard on Saturday along with GHMC Mayor Gadwal Vijayalakshmi, Mayor of Jawaharnagar Municipal Corporation M. Kavya, Chairperson of the Dammaiguada Municipality Praneetha, GHMC Commissioner D.S. Lokesh Kumar and others.
The inspection was undertaken upon instructions by MA&UD Minister K.T. Rama Rao, who received a complaint from Ms. Praneetha on social media, about the unbearable stench emanating from the garbage dump. Already a waste-to-energy plant of 20 mW exists at the solid waste management site managed by the Ramky Enviro Engineers Limited, but the amount of waste generated by the city is way higher than the requirement at the plant. Fresh proposal is to establish a 28 mW plant at ₹ 700 crore investment, a statement from the REEL informed.
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.