Reality check exposes 'safety chinks' in Delhi's coaching centres

New Delhi [India], May 25 (ANI): All is not well with the buildings of many coaching centres in the national capital so far as safety measures are concerned, a cause of serious concern in view of Takshashila Arcade's inferno in which 20 students were charred to death in Surat on Friday.
ANI team on Saturday did a reality check here, which exposed serious safety chinks in the buildings from where several coaching centres are being run in the city.
"There is a need to make our building safe in case of fire. There is no safety equipment in this building. There are two gates to step out of the building," said Ankit, manager of the coaching centre being run from a building in Laxmi Nagar in east Delhi.
Ankit, however, said that he has asked the owner to install all fire safety equipment in the building after what happened in Surat. "We cannot take any risk at all," he said.
It is worth mentioning that hundreds of coaching centres are functioning in a similar condition in Laxmi Nagar, which houses an end number of coaching centres in east Delhi.
Students from across the country flock to the national capital every year to prepare for competitive examinations by getting themselves enrolled in coaching centres, mostly located in areas like Mukherjee Nagar, Laxmi Nagar, and Rajinder Nagar.
These areas are dotted with coaching centres for Civil Services, banking, Staff Selection Commission (SSC), and Chartered Accountant (CA).
Speaking to ANI, even the students said they don't feel safe inside coaching centres as there is no fire safety equipment.
Dinesh, a student who is enrolled in a coaching institute in Laxmi Nagar, said: "I thought about fire safety in our building. There is a need to make the building fully secure so that in case there is a fire, no havoc is caused.
"The government agencies should do a regular check if the buildings have fire safety equipment or not. We will talk to the building administration in this regard as well," he said.
"There is no arrangement of fire safety. Our building owners have assured that they will install fire safety equipment as soon as possible," said Manoj, another student.
At another coaching centre, the administrator admitted that his building doesn't have any fire safety equipment.
Most of the coaching centres, which charge a hefty tuition fee from the students, are being run from the rented buildings. They do not bother to get no objection certificate (NOC) from the Fire Department.
According to the Fire Department, these coaching centres are not covered under the building by-laws and do not need any license to operate as well.
Vipin Kaintal, Chief Fire Officer (CFO), said: "The incident of Surat inferno was horrific. There are several coaching centres operating out of residential buildings, basements, and commercial centres."
"These coaching centres are not covered under building bylaws. These centres do not need any license. We are issuing a notice to install fire safety equipment in buildings covered under our department."
"The Fire Department is very active. We are demanding more vehicles. We have suspended licenses of many hotels and guest houses, which did not follow safety norms," he said.
In February this year, 17 people were killed after a massive fire broke out in Hotel Arpit Palace in Karol Bagh. (ANI)