North MCD pushes for relaxed fire norms in Old Delhi schools

Delhi Fire Services grants NOCs to only those schools located on roads wider than six metres -- a condition that is difficult to fulfil for many old Delhi establishments that are located in congested areas

The North Delhi Municipal Corporation is pushing for relaxation in fire safety norms for special areas, especially in Old Delhi and Walled City, pointing out that the stringent norms with regard to road width will lead to closure of a large number of schools in these areas as they are located in narrow lanes and alleyways.

The standing committee of the civic body has unanimously cleared a proposal asking the Directorate of Education and Delhi Fire Services to frame separate fire safety norms for special areas by keeping in mind local ground realities. (Picture for representation only/Raj K Raj-HT Archive)

Delhi Fire Services grants NOCs to only those schools located on roads wider than six metres -- a condition that is difficult to fulfil for many old Delhi establishments that are located in congested areas. The standing committee of the civic body has unanimously cleared a proposal asking the Directorate of Education and Delhi Fire Services to frame separate fire safety norms for special areas by keeping in mind local ground realities. The standing committee has also directed the municipal commissioner to not take action against schools until the new fire safety guidelines are framed for the Walled City.

Chhail Bihari Goswami, the leader of the House, said that there are relaxations in terms of road and staircase width for guest houses in “special areas”, but similar rules do not apply to schools. “Special areas” comprise Old Delhi, Paharganj, Shahjahanabad and Walled City extension areas.

Goswami said that later the minimum road width was mandatorily fixed at six metres. “Now the fire safety NOCs are issued to only those schools which are situated on roads wider than 6m and because many schools in Old Delhi cannot follow this norm, they can never get a fire NOC. This can lead to the closure of all such schools unless different norms are prepared for schools in ‘special areas’,” Goswami said.

He added that as a precautionary measure to prevent misuse of the anticipated relaxation in rules, the standing committee has asked the municipal commissioner to consider only those schools that received fire NOCs till three or four years ago.

“We will not consider sites that have never got a fire NOC. Around 120-150 schools in the ‘special areas’ are likely to benefit in case of relaxation in norms,” Goswami said.

The fire NOC issue is not only restricted to private and MCD-recognised schools but many municipal primary schools as well. Jai Prakash, former mayor and councillor from Sadar Bazar, said they have decided to shift some of the old schools located in narrow lanes to wider ones. “The number of children in schools in the area has also gone down as the commercialisation has increased and the residential proportion of the population has decreased. We have decided to shift and merge the municipal primary schools in Deputy Ganj, Roshanara and Gali Pahiya Wali. Old municipal schools are located in narrow lanes and the issue of fire NOC also hangs over them,” he added.

A senior Delhi Fire Services official said that the issue of wide access roads for fire NOCs exists mainly in the Walled City areas and urban villages. “Schools in places such as Chawri Bazar, Ajmeri Gate have been operating before the building and fire safety norms were framed. Many started operations even before Independence. Such schools should follow the rest of the fire safety norms, create emergency exits, keep fire safety equipment etc..” the official said.

The official added that the primary clearance requirement for a fire NOC is access to fire tenders. “The purpose of a fire NOC is to save lives. The new fire safety norms were issued based on Supreme Court orders after the Kumbakonam fire case,” the official said.

On July 16, 2004, 94 students in the primary section were burnt to death in a school in Kumbakonam in Thanjavur district of Tamil Nadu, after which fire safety norms in schools came under the scanner.

RC Jain, the president of Delhi State Public School Management Association, said that it was a good idea to make the separate provisions for areas like the Walled City. “The issue of fire safety was first raised in 2006 while the road width factor was considered much later. There are so many schools which existed in these areas much before these norms were framed. The road width norms have only led to harassment of school managements. We should incorporate innovative solutions to improve fire safety in these areas, such as having a common water tank or using the staircases of adjacent buildings as fire exits,” Jain said.