Railway track doubling works to adhere to deadline
The Hindu
Revised date of December 2021 and 2024 for routes via Kottayam and Alappuzha respectively
The long-overdue doubling of the rail track through Kottayam and Alappuzha can be completed as per the revised deadline of December 2021 and 2024 respectively despite delays encountered due to the COVID-19-related lockdowns and labour shortage, said sources in the Construction Wing of Southern Railway on Saturday. “We are confident of adhering to the deadline on both the routes, although works suffered delay in April and May -- considered the peak working season when there is generally little or no rainfall. This season was different since it rained in both months, while workers were stranded in their home States due to the lockdown. We hope to make up for the time lost in August and September, provided rain does not hamper work,” they said.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.