Gadag: Over 200 students at Karnataka govt school cross highway for lack of toilets
Gadag: Lingappa Shankarappa Mailar Government High School, located in Hombal near Gadag, has over 200 students who face a daily struggle due to the lack of functional toilets on the school premises.
The co-ed school has a pink toilet, but it lacks running water, forcing students to cross the busy Nargund Road, a state highway, to reach an open field for defecation, as reported by The New Indian Express on Sunday.
When the school was established in 1990, it had two small toilets. However, over the years, the toilets fell into disrepair, with the roof sheets blown away during heavy rains and winds.
Parents are increasingly concerned about the safety of their children, especially the girls, who sometimes resort to going home or finding alternative places to attend nature’s call.
While the teaching standards and extra-curricular activities at the school are reportedly satisfactory, the lack of basic sanitation facilities remains a significant issue. Parents have been advocating for a solution, urging the local authorities to act.
The school committee, responding to parental pressure, has requested the local administration to build functioning toilets to ensure the students' well-being.
“As per the instructions of the education department, the principal has submitted a memorandum to the gram panchayat but no action has been taken,” TNIE quoted Rupeshkumar, a senior teacher, as saying.
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Illegal sand mining has created environmental crisis in National Chambal Gharial Sanctuary: SC
New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court on Friday said rampant illegal riverbed sand mining has created an "environmental crisis" and wreaked "havoc" in the National Chambal Gharial Sanctuary, causing a grave risk to the gharial (long-snouted crocodile) preservation project.
Slamming the states of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh for their utter failure in dealing with the issue, the apex court directed them to install high-resolution Wi-Fi-enabled CCTV cameras along all routes frequently used for illegal sand mining in the area.
A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta directed that live feed of such surveillance cameras shall be placed under the direct control, supervision and operational oversight of the superintendent of police or the senior superintendent of police of the concerned district and the divisional forest officer.
It said these officers shall ensure continuous and effective monitoring of the CCTV feeds by designating appropriate officers.
"It can't be gainsaid that the issues involved are of great concern in as much as the rampant illegal mining activities in the river bed have created an environmental crisis and havoc in the National Chambal Gharial Sanctuary causing a grave risk to the very project of gharial preservation of which the state governments themselves were proponents and were under an obligation to foster and promote," Justice Mehta said while pronouncing the order.
The bench directed the authorities in these three states to initiate prompt and necessary action under law if any instance of illegal mining or allied activities comes to light.
It said the authorities shall ensure seizure of vehicles or machinery found involved in illegal sand mining and also initiate prosecution of persons involved in it.
The bench, which passed several other directions, posted the matter for hearing on May 11.
The top court passed the order in a suo motu case titled 'In Re: Illegal sand mining in the National Chambal Sanctuary and threat to endangered aquatic wildlife'.
The National Chambal Sanctuary, also called the National Chambal Gharial Wildlife Sanctuary, is a 5,400-sq km tri-state protected area.
Besides the endangered gharial, it is home to the red-crowned roof turtle and the endangered Ganges river Dolphin.
Located on the Chambal river near the tripoint of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, the sanctuary was first declared a protected area in Madhya Pradesh in 1978 and now constitutes a long and narrow eco-reserve co-administered by the three states.
On March 13, the top court took suo motu cognisance of news reports about rampant illegal sand mining on the banks of the Chambal river.
