Thripunithura bypass: Demand to address landowners’ woes
The Hindu
Hundreds left in the lurch, says forum
The Public Works Department (NH Wing) and the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) must do the needful to redress the woes of hundreds of people who were left in the lurch after their lands were frozen three decades ago for the Thripunithura bypass project which has not been realised so far, M.M. Mohanan, secretary of EDRAAC-Thiruvankulam Zone, said.
The ‘apathy’ towards the plight of landowners has resulted in they being unable to rebuild or renovate their dilapidated houses. Neither can they bequeath their land/houses to their children. MPs, MLAs and representatives of local bodies must proactively help redress the grievances of landowners, most of whom are senior citizens, he added.
The demand comes in the wake of NHAI reportedly not confirming whether the plots that were acquired, or were frozen for acquisition, will be acquired as part of the Kundannoor-Angamaly NH bypass project.
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.