Nod for eco-friendly revamp of green belt villages in city
At height of the pandemic, many govt school students were without equipment or connectivity
NEW DELHI: With a view to encourage eco-friendly development, the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) on Wednesday approved the Green Development Area (GDA) policy, to regulate infrastructure and other works in villages that are located in the green belt on Delhi’s periphery as well as low-density residential areas (LDRA), where a majority of farmhouses are located.
The policy is much needed, experts said, and will help regulate development activities in villages and ensure that they happen in a sustainable and green manner, without compromising Delhi’s green lungs.
A total of 70 villages in the urban extensions of the national capital will benefit from the policy, once it is notified, officials in the know of the matter said.
As per the Master Plan of Delhi 2021 (MPD 2021), the green belt extends from the boundary of the national capital “up to a depth of one peripheral revenue village boundary”.
The policy, which was approved at a meeting of the DDA, chaired by lieutenantgovernor Anil Baijal, will be put in the public domain for suggestions and objections before being sent to the Union housing and urban affairs ministry for notification.
Currently, no new construction, either residential or commercial, is allowed in the 47 rural villages -- such as Dhansa, Mitraon, Tikri Kalan, Kapashera, parts of Rajokri, Ghumanhera, Bamnoli and Bijwasan -that are located on the periphery of the city.
A senior DDA official said, on condition of anonymity, “The GDA policy will encourage ‘green development’ and will ensure seamless development of infrastructure and road network within and around GDA.”
The new policy, a second senior DDA official said, will allow planned development in these villages and make way for institutions, hospitals and big parks to come up.
The policy will also be applicable to the 23 villages that are currently covered by the lowdensity residential area (LDRA) policy, notified in 2013.
As per the policy, there will be a three-graded approach towards the development of land parcels falling in these areas.
The policy provides a framework defining a minimum land area required for green development.
In Grade 1, a minimum plot area of 600 square metres (sqm) is required, whereas in Grade 2 and 3, the minimum plot area required will be 4,000sqm and 10,000sqm, respectively. “The idea is to incentivise development on agglomerated land parcels of bigger size. The floor area ratio (FAR) permitted will vary from five (for Grade 1) to 60 (for Grade 3), depending on the plot size,” said the second official.
GHAZIABAD/NOIDA: While in-person classes from grades 6 to 8 resumed across Uttar Pradesh on Wednesday, government schools saw a much higher attendance than private schools in Gautam Budh Nagar and Ghaziabad districts.
The attendance levels are yet another indication of the inequalities that exist in society. At the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, when schools were told to shut and move to online classrooms, many government school students were left in the lurch without the required equipment or connectivity. Now, with the disease seemingly on the decline, these students rushed back to school.
The Uttar Pradesh government had earlier required schools to get students’ parents’ consent before allowing them to attend in-person classes, and follow mandatory guidelines such as the wearing of masks and using sanitisers.
Ghaziabad
The first day of in-person lessons in schools for junior classes this year saw staggered attendance, with only about one-fourth of the student strength in private schools in Ghaziabad district turning up. Government schools, however, saw almost half of the student strength return to classrooms.
The Uttar Pradesh government had last week allowed classes 6 to 8 to restart in schools from February 10, while classes 1 to 5 are to begin from March 1. The state government had mandated that parents’ written consent before sending students to school is necessary and that no child shall be forced to come to school.
“We estimate that the attendance in government schools, where there are about 32,000-34,000 students, was
encouraging at about 40-45%, while the turnout in private schools is estimated to be about 20-30% only. We estimate, however, that in coming days the turnout may increase,” said BB Chaudhary, Ghaziabad district’s basic education officer.
The district has about 455 government schools and 147 private schools affiliated to the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) besides other private schools.
Some of the schools said very few parents have consented to sending their wards to school.
“We did not open classes 6 to 8 on Wednesday as hardly 10% were willing to come, out of the 200 students. Parents are not consenting to letting their wards attend school. Further, they are demanding transport facilities, as many parents have started
attending offices in person. We will hold meetings and decide upon the future course,” said Jyoti Gupta, director of DPS, Sahibabad.
She added that the attendance in classes 9 to 12 which are already in operation saw a turnout of about 30% in October last year, which went on to about 80-90% during practical examinations.
“It now stands between 50-90% and most of these children are coming to school. But their attendance is not regular,” Gupta added.
Alka Paihar, the principal of government composite upper primary school at Basantpur Saithli, said that her school had a turnout of about 50% students on Wednesday.
“The children were willing to come to school ever since they heard that their classes will be resumed. They often came to school to inquire about the dates and timings of classes as well. Their parents are also willing to send them to school. Most of the students came wearing masks while we provided masks to others, besides sanitisers. We welcomed the children and also gifted a pen each to them,” Parihar said.
She added that the teachers of the school, besides sending homework through Whatsapp groups, also went to individual households to hand over worksheets during the lockdown period.
“The attendance on Wednesday was encouraging and we expect that more children will join in the coming days. We also expect that we will be able to achieve full strength once the next session starts,” she added.
The SOPS issued by the state government ahead of the opening of schools for classes 6 to 8 stated that it will not be the responsibility of the school if the student contracts the coronavirus (Covid-19) disease. The SOPS also said that if any students prefer studying from home, they should be allowed.
“Had the planners considered the low attendance seen in classes 9 to 12, they would not have given a go-ahead for opening the junior classes. Further, when all studies have been held online the entire year, what was the hurry to open schools at the fag end of the academic session,” said Sachin Soni, general secretary of All Schools’ Parents’ Association. “We expect that once Covid-19 cases stop coming through and vaccination coverage gets increased, the attendance will rise. Otherwise, most parents as of now are not willing to send their children to schools,” he added.
Office bearers of the Independent Schools Federation of India (ISFI), which has 87 private schools as members, said that they prefer online classes considering the low turnout of students.
“Schools are not getting parents’ consent and it will be better if we conduct classes online. Since the clause of parents’ consent is there, students will not come to school. Our schools had parents’ consent for about 10% of students but we need about 50% attendance so that classes can be operated optimally. Otherwise, our teachers will be burdened as they will have to teach students in different sessions in classrooms as well as through the online mode,” said Subhash Jain, president of ISFI.
The parents’ association members, meanwhile, said that the attendance issue is also likely to affect the turnout of younger students of classes 1 to 5, as their classes will resume from March 1 as directed by the UP government.
Gautam Budh Nagar
GB Nagar district’s basic shiksha adhikari (BSA) Sanjay Upadhyay said there were 155 government schools in the city. “Though the attendance in schools is not mandatory for now, the turnout on the first day was really encouraging,” he said.
On the other hand, the private schools found their students’ parents reluctant to send their wards to campus.
Kamini Bhasin, the principal of DPS Noida, said that school will make the transition to offline classes in a phased manner. “The teachers had come to school today. There’s been a mixed response from the parents. Most parents were confident of our Covid-19 preparations but some are still apprehensive about the risks. After getting their consent, we’ll begin the classes,” she said.
Yatendra Kasana, the president of Noida parents’ association, said that they were not convinced of the safety protocols. “They (government) have been sloganeering ‘jab tak dawai nahin, tab tak dhilai nahin (Till there is no medicine, there cannot be any complacency)’. Have the students or teachers have been inoculated? The parents in Noida are still indifferent to the appeals made by the school administration,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Noida police, led by DCP (women safety) Vrinda Shukla, intensified the patrolling near all the girls’ schools in the district.
“Besides keeping a constant vigil on the movements around these schools, we also interacted with the schoolgirls to sensitize them about the importance of safety and sanitization measures to be taken in the post-covid scenario,” the DCP said.