None of Mukherjee Nagar’s coaching centres has fire NOC: Delhi Police survey

Delhi Police surveyed 53 coaching centres in Mukherjee Nagar — none of which had a no-objection certificate from the fire department.

On June 15, a fire broke out at a coaching centre in north Delhi’s Mukherjee Nagar, resulting in injuries to 61 students. Mukherjee Nagar, considered Delhi’s hub of coaching institutions, had long been plagued by loose overhead wires, tilted electric poles, congested lanes, and dilapidated old buildings, but the blaze in June shone a spotlight on the blatant violations of fire and safety norms in this part of town.

The building housing the coaching centre where a fire broke out on June 15. (Sanchit Khanna/HT Photo)

After the fire, the Delhi high court took cognisance of the incident and directed the Delhi Police, fire department, and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) to conduct a survey of all coaching institutes in the city to check whether they are compliant with safety norms as laid down under the Capital’s Master Plan-2021.

Under the Master Plan-2021, coaching centres are permitted, but have a minimum area requirement, need to follow regularised construction and structural norms, and require a no-objection certificate (NOC) from the fire department.

As part of its audit, Delhi Police surveyed 53 coaching centres in Mukherjee Nagar — none of which had a no-objection certificate from the fire department, the force said in an affidavit in court.

Atul Garg, Delhi Fire Service chief, said his department formed six teams to survey all coaching centres after the fire, and violations were found in most of the around 500 units they surveyed. “We have submitted the findings in our report to the court,” he said.

Separately, the MCD said it has issued show cause notices to 896 properties for various violations related to fire safety, building norms and conversion charges, with 98 units vacating the premises voluntarily.

“The action against such coaching centres on violations is at different stages. We need to provide time to individual units to file their replies. Out of the 896 properties, 137 notices have been issued in Mukherjee Nagar area alone. So far, four units have been sealed by MCD and 98 units have voluntarily vacated the premises. Our action will continue over the next 30 days based on the compliance of the Delhi high Court order,” an MCD official said.

A second MCD official from the building department said that the fire safety in these units is judged on three key factors—width of the staircase, availability of provision of separate entry and exit gates and presence of fire safety equipment. “While these units are expected to have a staircase width of at least 5 feet, most of the places have staircases of a width of only 2.5-3 feet,” the official said.

Civil service aspirant Deepak Kumar, 23, originally from Uttar Pradesh’s Moradabad, said no classes have taken place at his Mukherjee Nagar coaching institute since the June fire — in the neighbouring building.

“Almost all the coaching centres are shut now and even if some are functioning, they get shut down by the police... We have come all the way to study and now everything is ruined,” Kumar said.