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Ludhiana fire dept tightens noose on coaching centres operating sans NOC
Facing flak over failure to ensure adherence to fire safety norms, the fire brigade has finally started serving inspection notices to coaching institutes in Ludhiana operating without no-objection certificates (NOC)
Facing flak over failure to ensure adherence to fire safety norms, the fire brigade has finally started serving inspection notices to coaching institutes in the city operating without no-objection certificates (NOC).
The process was initiated from the tuition market in Model Town Extension on Wednesday, where notices were served to nine institutes in the first phase on Wednesday.
Officials said that inspection will be conducted at the institutes after three days and if anomalies are found, the owners will be given 30 days to make necessary arrangements. If they fail to do so, challans up to ₹25,000 will be imposed against them. If they continue to violate norms, the second challan will be of ₹50,000 and the building can be sealed after that.
On March 16, MC had issued public notices asking owners of establishments like coaching institutes and industrial units to put fire safety arrangements in place within a month, failing which strict action will be taken against them. The fire brigade had even distributed public notices at the tuition market in April, but owners of none of the institutes came forward to avail of the NOC, officials said.
The fire brigade officials stated that the process got delayed due to technical issues, but the department has now started the exercise to ensure enforcement of fire safety norms at coaching institutes. Sub-fire officers (SFO) Maninder Singh and Navrang Singh stated that all institutes in the city will be inspected in the first phase.
No count of coaching institutes with department
The fire department, however, does not have an exact count of the number of coaching institutes in the city. The municipal corporation (MC) had also commenced a survey of such institutes in the city after the Surat Coaching Centre tragedy, where around two dozen people were killed in May 2019. However, it was not completed.
A large number of coaching institutes are operational in areas like Model Town Extension, tuition market, Kitchlu Nagar and Dugri.
Fire audit hanging fire since 2017
With the industrial hub of the state sitting on a powder keg, the fire audit of the city has been hanging fire since 2017. It was ordered by former chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh after 16 people were killed in the Suffiyan Chowk plastic factory tragedy.
While there are approximately 4.3 lakh properties in the city, of which around 1 lakh are industrial and commercial, only 4,081 property owners have received an NOC (including renewals) from the fire department between January 2019 and April 7, 2022
Fire department officials say around 1,000 building owners receive the NOC every year, including those who renew it.
