Turn water-efficient in 3yrs, CBSE to schools

New Delhi, October 16

With the water crisis looming in India, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has mandated schools to become "water-efficient" within three years by adopting a policy of water management and conducting regular water audits.

A recent report by NITI Aayog raised the alarm that 21 cities in India, including Delhi, Bengaluru, Chennai and Hyderabad, would run out of groundwater by 2020, affecting 100 million people.

According to water conservation guidelines framed by the board, the schools will be required to replace old fixtures and appliances with water-efficient models, install automatic taps with sensors and double flush tanks and ensure regular check-ups for leakages and their prompt repair.

"Becoming a water-efficient school is hardly a choice anymore. Therefore, it will now be mandatory for all affiliated schools to achieve the goal of becoming water-efficient within the next three years," a senior CBSE official said. "While schools use tremendous amount of water every day and require water for drinking purposes, rest rooms, canteens, laboratories, playing fields, lawns and gardens, it must be understood that conserving water helps reduce a school's carbon footprint," the official added.

The CBSE has asked schools to constitute "school water management committees" that may include administrators, teachers, students, non-teaching staff and parents.

Installing rainwater harvesting structures, planting native and drought-tolerant plants and replacing old fixtures are among suggestions made in policy for water management. PTI

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Death of 'B'deshi' inmate to be probed

Tezpur (Assam), October 16

The Assam Government has ordered a magisterial probe into the death of an inmate of a foreigners' detention centre in Tezpur district after his son, a mechanic, refused to accept the body till he is was declared an Indian national. Dulal Paul, 65, was declared a Bangladeshi by a Foreigners' Tribunal in 2017 and lodged at the Tezpur centre, Superintendent Mrinmay Dawka said.

Deputy Commissioner Manvendra Pratap Singh said the probe into the death at Gauhati Medical College and Hospital would be conducted by Additional DC (ADC) Parag Kakoti. The Bengali Federation of Assam has also submitted a memorandum demanding an investigation. Dawka said, Paul was being treated for diabetes and psychiatric ailments and was examined by doctors at the Tezpur Medical College and Hospital on October 11 and brought back to the detention centre the same day.

However, he fell ill the next day and died. PTI