New Delhi Feb 25 PTI The Education Committee of the South Delhi Municipal Corporation SDMC has asked its education department officials to ensure that no student comes to its schools in religious attire SDMCs Education Committee Chairperson Nitika Sharma has written a letter in this connection to the Director Education SDMC In the letter Sharma asked the education director to instruct all zonal officials to not allow students in SDMC primary schools in religious attires and ensure that schoolchildren come to their respective institutions in prescribed dress code only The SDMCs move comes days after a parent in Tukhmirpur area of northeast Delhi alleged that her daughter was asked by the teacher at the government school to remove her headscarf Sharma said attending classes wearing religious attire will instil a sense of inequality among students I have asked the director education in SDMC to direct zonal official to ensure that students do not come to schools in religious attire as it creates differences and inequality among students Sharma told PTI There is a proper dress code decided for SDMC schools and students should follow that Every year we provide school uniforms to students for free so they should wear that only instead of religious attire while coming to schools Sharma said She however added that students can wear religious attire or other fancy dresses during festivals or fancy dress competitions in schools The SDMC runs primary schools up to class 5 Around 25 lakh students study in about 568 SDMC primary schools n the letter Sharma wrote Lately it has been seen that some parents are sending their wards to school in religious attire which is not right This may develop the mentality of inequality among students which is not good at all for their future Keeping in view all these factors all zonal officials should be directed to ensure that students can wear dress other than their uniforms only during school competitions and festivals On normal days students should be present in school in their school uniforms the letter said It added that school uniforms have been prescribed for students in which they look beautiful The SDMC when required keeps changing the colour of uniforms due to which there is no inferiority complex among rich and poor kids the letter stated PTI AKM CK

New Delhi Feb 23 PTI The South Delhi Municipal Corporation SDMC on Wednesday made it mandatory to get a third party insurance akin to that of vehicles for owners and caretakers of horses mares or horse-drawn buggies to be used for ceremonial purposes civic authorities said The decision was approved by the SDMC standing committee on Wednesday following a court order last year The SDMC authorities said three-four years ago a person had died in Civil Lines after being hit by two racing mares while he was crossing the road The matter was then taken to the court to settle the dispute regarding who will bear the expansesSDMC Standing Committee Chairman BK Oberoi said that in Delhi so far there was no provision of taking third party insurance of horses mares or horse buggies being used in ceremonial or other commercial purposes But now taking third party insurance of horses mares and horse buggies has been made mandatory for their owners and operators to get a license for the same The license will be denied by the corporation if this condition is not met Oberoi told PTI Oberoi said the court had ordered the city government and municipal corporations last year to make the condition of third party insurance for compensation to the victim in case of any untoward incidentThe third party insurance will ensure compensation in cases of any untoward incident such as loss of life or property by these animals being used as personal or commercial purposes Oberoi said The proposal passed by the SDMC said A third party insurance for all the horsesmares and horse buggies to be used for ceremonial purpose will be mandatory The department of veterinary services will ensure this condition at the time of new license as well as their subsequent renewals It also said the applicant shall submit an undertaking to keep SDMC harmless and indemnify from all the acts and deeds leading to any accident causing loss of life or injury to any users or otherwise due to the use of any licensed horse buggy horsemare and the licensee shall be liable to pay compensation arising out of such accidents PTI AKM CK

New Delhi Jan 31 PTI The South Delhi Municipal Corporations SDMC online facility for the disposal of electronic-waste has been garnering a good response as over 700 people has availed the service Mayor Mukesh Suryan said on Monday Suryan said the civic agency has disposed of a large quantity of e-waste generated from the area under its jurisdiction Nearly Rs 77 lakh were paid on the purchase of unused e-waste till now the mayor said in a statementNearly 750 people have availed the service and a total of 573 applications have been received so far Suryan said The service was started by the SDMC last year in June The civic agency has partnered with RBH e-Waste Recycle Hub Pvt Ltd to dispose of old and unserviceable IT equipment from the offices citizens RWAs markets and other areas under its jurisdiction He said that the SDMC has engaged the company on the basis of open tender for disposal of e-waste collected through an online facility According to the agreement the company purchases e-waste from the citizens through an online system and ensures disposal in a proper manner The company has paid nearly Rs 77 lakh to purchase unused e-waste till nowPeople can sell e-waste by availing of online services SDMCs IT Department has launched an application httpsewastemcdservicesonline for submitting the online request for collecting the e-waste and has also started a toll-free number 1800-123-005566 for collecting and disposing of e-waste in a scientific manner The SDMC on June 11 2021 had started an online facility for e-waste collection E-Waste mainly is a general term given to electronic and electrical items like computers transformers freeze switch TV etc which have reached the end of life E-waste contains toxic chemicals and minerals like arsenic cadmium acid etc hence should be recycled in a scientific manner If such an item is not disposed of in a scientific manner it can cause massive damage to the environment the statement said PTI AKM CK

New Delhi Aug 25 PTI The South Delhi Municipal Corporation on Wednesday decided not to disconnect water and electricity connections to residents of unauthorised colonies in the city a move that comes ahead of the next years civic polls The civic body also directed officials to take back previous orders of disconnecting water and electricity connections in such colonies A proposal in this connection was approved in the House meeting of the South Delhi Municipal Corporation SDMC on Wednesday Other proposals such as construction of multilevel parking lots at Punjabi Bagh crematorium and Greater Kailash-2 and purchase of electric road sweeping machines were also passed in the meeting There are around 1800 unauthorised colonies in the national capital where a sizeable portion of the citys population resides The municipal bodies usually write to the Delhi Jal Board and electricity department of the city government for cutting connections of water and electricity in unauthorised colonies as any construction in such areas is considered illegal The proposal which was tabled by Leader of the House Indrajeet Sehrawat stated that since the municipal corporation did not pass building layout plans in unauthorised colonies all construction in such colonies was done without a valid building plan Water and electricity are basic necessities of any citizen The House meeting of the SDMC proposes and requests the commissioner not to issue orders of disconnecting water and electricity connections in such colonies the proposal read It also said the previous orders of disconnecting water and electricity connections in unauthorised colonies should be withdrawn Sehrawat said the decision will benefit thousands of people living in unauthorised colonies He said it is very hard to get water or electricity connection after it gets disconnected once This is a public welfare decision aimed at benefiting the general public We used to get complaints from residents of unauthorised colonies that their electricity and water connections were snapped because of being in illegal colonies Now we are trying to change this so that they do not face such inconveniences Sehrawat said He said the proposal will now be sent to the Centre via the Lieutenant Governors office for final approval The work of regularisation of 1731 unauthorised colonies under PM-UDAY Yojana is also underway he added Meanwhile the civic body also approved proposals to construct multilevel parking lots at Punjabi Bagh crematorium and at Greater Kailash-2 to cumulatively accommodate 450 cars The capacity of automated multilevel parking at Punjabi Bagh crematorium will be of 225 cars while the one at GK-II will be able to accommodate 232 cars at a time The civic body also approved procurement of electric road sweeping machines worth Rs 14 crore Under the project four electric road sweeping machines will be purchased Officials said the move is aimed at reducing pollution and cut the cost on fuel as compared to the diesel-run mechanical sweeping machines which are presently being used PTI AKM CK

New Delhi Aug 24 PTI Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday said changes will be made to the Delhis drainage system based on suggestions received from the Indian Institute of Technology IIT Delhi to resolve the issue of waterlogging in the city The decision was taken at a meeting held to review the national capitals drainage master plan The meeting was chaired by Kejriwal according to the Chief Ministers Office CMO Delhi has witnessed massive waterlogging this monsoon Many arterial stretches underpasses and even residential areas were inundated after heavy rains in the city Delhi to soon get freedom from water-logging Necessary changes suggested by IIT Delhi will be implemented to further bolster the drainage system and make it foolproof Every gap in the drainage system of Delhi has to be plugged If theres a fallacy in the slope of a drain it needs to be fixed If any drain is meeting a dead end it needs to be corrected Kejriwal said in a statement He said proper plan should be chalked out for connecting smaller drains with the large drainage lines Kejriwal said that consultants will be roped in to plan and present project reports for all drainage lines to expedite the implementation of projects According to a government statement a Technical Expert Committee has been working to decide design parameters and technical inputs like rainfall intensity return period runoff coefficient retention period for Delhis drainage master plan while experts from IIT Delhi have been roped in to analyse the drainage systems and suggest solutions for them The statement said that to enhance Delhis drainage system studies were conducted using digital modelling of the physical drainage systems of the city A number of recommendations have been made for the Delhi Drainage Master Plan Some of these recommendations are that there should be no encroachments on storm water drains and sewage or waste materials should not come into storm water drains No construction such as utilities and pillars of elevated road or metros should be allowed inside storm water drains Rejuvenation of water bodies should be ensured the statement said According to government data there are about 2846 drains in Delhi and their length is about 3692 km majority of which are being managed by the Public Works Department PWD Delhi is divided into three major natural drainage basins -- Trans Yamuna Barapullah and Najafgarh In addition there are also some small drainage basins the Aruna Nagar and Chandrawal which drain directly into the Yamuna Earlier in the day the CMO tweeted regarding the meeting and said Chief Minister convened a review meeting on citys drainage masterplan Necessary changes will be made in drains on suggestions of IIT Changes will be done keeping in view better discharge of water during monsoon Waterlogging problem of the city will be solved Kejriwal had last month said a world-class drainage system would be developed across the national capital He said drainage systems like the one at Minto Road would be replicated across Delhi and drains and sewers would be desilted regularly PTI AKM CK

New Delhi Aug 24 PTI The South Delhi Municipal Corporation SDMC has issued legal notices to 20 DTC bus depots for allegedly failing to curb mosquito breeding during monsoon the civic body said on Tuesday Municipal officials said the action was taken during a special drive of the SDMCs Public Health Department to detect mosquito breeding and check control measures at Delhi Transport Corporation DTC bus depots located in the municipalitys jurisdiction The department during its drive found mosquito breeding at 23 out of 38 bus depots coming under the jurisdiction of the SDMC Reasons behind mosquito breeding were collection of rain water in scrap items lying unattended tyres flower pots desert coolers etc After detecting mosquito breedings the department initiated legal measures against care takersmanagers of the depot by issuing 20 legal notices and one challan against them the civic body said in a statement Vulnerable bus depots where mosquito breeding was found are DTC cluster bus depot at Sector-2 Sector-22 Sector-C in Dwarka Sukhdev Vihar Khanpur Vasant Vihar Dichaou Kalan among others According to SDMCs Public Health Department officials mosquito breeding increases in the monsoon so the cases of vector-borne diseases may go up According to a report issued by the municipal corporations 82 cases of dengue have been recorded till August 21 this year Officials said that during monsoon rain water gets accumulated at empty patches of land on the roadsides on rooftops of buildings and even in unattended objects giving a congenial atmosphere for breeding of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes known for spreading vector-borne diseases such as dengue malaria and chikungunya The statement further said mosquito breeding was destroyed on the spot where it was detected in bus depots The insecticidal spray was also used by the civic staff Civic officials were directed to coordinate with care takersmanagers of bus depots and organise workshops for taking anti-mosquito measures on the premises the statement read PTI AKM CK