Capital among 3 cities to breathe fresh air soon
Jharkhand to receive ₹318 crore from the Centre to improve air quality in three cities with population of over one million
RANCHI: Residents of Jharkhand’s three cities -Ranchi, Dhanbad and Jamshedpur- are likely to breathe fresh air very soon, as the state is expected to receive a grant of ₹318 crore annually for five years from the central government to improve air qualities of million-plus cities, urban development department officials said on Monday.
Based on the recommendations of 15th Finance Commission, the Centre’s initiative will be implemented by urban local bodies (ULBs) under guidance of the Union ministry of forest and environment.
Director of state urban development agency (SUDA), Amit Kumar, said, “The objective of the initiative is to reduce concentration of PM-10 and PM-2.5 through various environment friendly activities in a bid to improve air quality in cities.”
“For the programme, the government has made an arrangement of tied up funds, under which Jharkhand will receive ₹318 crore annually for five years. However, fund allocation will depend upon performance of cities. The fund will be granted after reviewing progress of the cities in implementing the programme,” Kumar said.
The funds will be given to the state government, which will then transfer the same to local bodies, officials said.
Jharkhand’s three cities of Ranchi, Dhanbad and Jamshedpur, having population of more than 10 lakh qualify for the Centre’s programme. “We are impaneling with different agencies to help ULBs in case they are not able to make a city-specific detailed project report (DPR),” he said.
Kumar said they would start working on the programme once they receive guidance and direction from the ministry of forest and environment.
As per experts, rising vehicular movements, industrial and mining activities are major reasons for deteriorating air qualities in cities. They said Ranchi’s air quality is affected by vehicular pollution, while Dhanbad’s by vehicular and mining pollution. Jamshedpur’s air is affected by vehicular and industrial activities, experts said.
Dhanbad is considered to be one of the most polluted cities in the country. The Centre had picked Dhanbad among 102 nonattainment cities under National Clear Air Programme in 2019. Concentration of PM-10 was 200% higher than the permissible limit in December 2018 in the city.
Similarly, Ranchi falls under moderate category of air quality index (AQI). The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) categorises AQI levels in the 0-50 range as good; 51-100 as satisfactory; 101-200 as moderate; 201300 as poor; and 301-400 as very poor.
The city witnessed 9.61% rise in PM-10 concentration, while PM-2.5, tiny particulate matter that reaches deep into lungs, registered 7.58% increase against the permissible limit on Diwali last year.
DHANBAD: The state health department has proposed to increase retirement age of teachers of medical colleges to 70 years from the existing 67 years.
The move comes amid the current shortage of senior teachers in all five medical colleges of state. Health secretary KK Soan has in this regard sent a file to health minister Banna Gupta for further action.
The health secretary could not be contacted for comment on the matter. However, a senior official of the health department’s medical education wing
confirmed the development.
The National Medical Commission (NMC), a body which regulates medical education and medical professionals across the country, has allowed to increase retirement age of
medical college teachers to 70 years, and some states have already implemented it.
“Posts of senior teachers are lying vacant in a large number in medical colleges. Crisis is likely to deepen further as around 30 professors and associate professors rank teachers in Shahid Nirmal Mahto Medical College Hospital (SNMMCH), formerly known as Patliputra Medical College and Hospital (PMCH), and Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Medical College Hospital (MGMMCH) are going to retire ( at the age of 67) in next two to three months. So, increasing retirement age of teachers to avoid crisis is the only option left, as even retired senior teachers are not turning up for interviews to work on a contractual basis,” the official said.
Due to paucity of teachers, the NMC has stopped admission in Palamu and Hazaribagh Medical Colleges for the 2020-21 academic session, while enhancement of MBBS seats at SNMMCH has been blocked.
With retirement of two senior teachers on January 30, ten departments of SNMMCH in Dhanbad were currently without professors.
“Due to shortage of teachers, NMC has not only rejected the application of increasing 50 MBBS seats to 100, but also turned down permission of starting postgraduate course in the college,” said a senior teacher of SNMMC.
Increasing retirement age of teachers to avoid crisis is the only option left, as even retired teachers are not turning up for interviews to work on contractual basis OFFICIAL, State health department
The Supreme Court on Monday granted 5-day interim bail to journalist Siddique Kappan, arrested on his way to Hathras where a young Dalit woman had died after being allegedly gang-raped, to visit his ailing mother.
A bench headed by Chief Justice S A Bobde, however, said that during his visit he shall not give any interview to the media, including social media.
The bench, also comprising Justices A S Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian, said that Kappan will not meet members of the public except his relatives and doctors concerned.
It said he will be escorted by a team of Uttar Pradesh police officers and police in Kerala will cooperate with them.
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Kerala Union of Working Journalists (KUWJ), stated that Kappan’s mother could not talk on video conference and the doctors have said she might live only for two or three more days.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Uttar Pradesh government, said however that the condition of Kappan’s mother was not as serious as was being projected and no medical certificates are provided. “There are posters in Kerala and the wife of Kappan is colSaying lecting money in his name as if he is a martyr... When he goes to Kerala to visit his mother political opinions would be formed,” Mehta said. The bench said it was taking Sibal’s statements on face value and “we will not allow him (Kappan) to be paraded and he will go to his house under protection of armed guards”.
On November 16 last year, the top court had sought a response from the UP government on the plea challenging the arrest of the journalist on his way to Hathras.
Sibal had sought bail for the journalist saying that there was nothing against him in the FIR lodged at Mathura by UP Police.
The FIR has been filed under various provisions of the IPC and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) against four people having alleged links with the Popular Front of India, or PFI. PFI had been accused in the past of funding protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act across the country earlier this year. Kappan was arrested on October 5 while he was on his way to Hathras, home to the young Dalit woman who died after being gang-raped, allegedly by four upper-caste men.
The KUWJ had filed a habeas corpus petition in the top court against the arrest of the journalist and it also sought his immediate production and release from “illegal detention”. The police, however, had said it has arrested four people having links with the PFI in Mathura and identified the arrested persons as Siddique from Malappuram, Atiq-ur Rehman from Muzaffarnagar, Masood Ahmed from Bahraich and Alam from Rampur. Hours after the arrest, the prominent journalist body of Kerala identified Siddique by his full name as Siddique Kappan, saying he is a senior Delhi-based journalist.