Meghalaya to resume coal mining despite green concerns
The Hindu
Lease granted for three blocks in East Jaintia Hills prompting disquiet among activists
Activists in Meghalaya have voiced concern over granting of mining leases for three coal blocks after a statement from the leaseholders thanking Prime Minister Narendra Modi for allowing resumption of coal extraction.
The National Green Tribunal (NGT) had in April 2014 banned rat-hole coal mining that was deemed hazardous to people and the environment. Since transportation of extracted coal was allowed, in remote areas often leading to fatal accidents. Fifteen miners were killed when water flooded the coal tunnels in 2018 and in January this year after they fell into a tunnel.
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.