Despite red flags, chinks in fire safety at coaching institutes in Lucknow

Feb 12, 2025 08:46 AM IST

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Reality check finds many institutes running with only one entry/exit point, putting lives of students at risk; chief fire officer seeks cancellation of their licences

LUCKNOW At least 17 coaching institutes in Lucknow continue to operate with inadequate fire safety arrangements, putting lives of students at risk, despite several notices issued to them in this regard and the chief fire officer (CFO) seeking cancellation of their licences for violation of norms, revealed an audit report released by the fire department.

One of the centres in Aliganj area with single entry/exit point. (Deepak Gupta/HT Photos)

On Tuesday, HT did a reality check of a few prominent institutes in the city’s coaching hub, Aliganj, and found that majority of them were running with single entry/exit in buildings where thousands of students, in separate batches, come to prepare for JEE, UPSC, and other competitive/entrance exams.

The team first visited Gravity Coaching Centre in Kapoorthala, where over 500 students attend classes in different batches of NEET-UG, IIT-JEE and other courses. The institute on the third floor of Ved Plaza had only one entry and exit point at the rear side of the building with a shopping mall on the front side.

The lift in the building was also found to be non-functional, leaving only one exit in case of a fire tragedy. However, some fire fighting equipment were found, including fire sand, and hose pipe.

However, the institute authorities refuted the claim. “We follow fire safety norms and have not received any notice from the fire department. Earlier, the institute used to operate in a building that did not have fire safety measures and was sealed, hence it was shifted to this building two years ago,” said centre head, Ramesh Pandey. When asked about single entry/exit points, he said: “We don’t know much about fire safety rules... in case of any issue, the fire department should do something to rectify things.”

Next to Gravity, another coaching institute RACE IAS had all fire safety extinguishers in place. But the institute, which runs on the first and second floors of the building, has only one exit point. “Fire safety is our top priority. We no longer run classes on the second floor and have classes only on the ground floor. The classroom with 60 students has a door that opens outside the building ensuring safety for them,” said centre in-charge Shruti.

The team moved to another institute, Aakar Coaching Centre, in Sector H of Aliganj that provides classes to nearly 1000 students for over 25 courses. The situation was found to be glaring. With a shopping mall occupying majority portion of the building, only a narrow staircase led to the said coaching on the top floor. With classes in full attendance, no second exit point was found in the building. The institute also did not have a fire NoC. “We had applied for NoC on October 9, 2024, but it is still pending. We are applying again,” said Pallavi Singh, founder and owner of the institute that was opened in 2019.

The next stop another popular coaching institute, Sharda IAS Coaching Centre, situated in a jam-packed commercial building at Aliganj with shops on the ground floor and banks and two-three coaching institutes on the top. The building is left with only single entry/exit points waiting for a tragedy to happen. “After several notices, the institute in the building has remained closed for a month,” said a shopkeeper. When contacted on the number, the institute was unreachable.

Team HT also visited Dhyeya IAS Coaching Centre at Purania Chauraha in Sector K Aliganj that was sent notice by the fire department. Vinay Singh, founder & CEO of the institute, which has over 1000 students in various batches, claimed that all norms were being followed.

“The entire coaching is being run in the building, which is not made as per the standards of National Building Code of India (NBC),” said CFO Mangesh Kumar.

As per the fire department, a campaign was run in November 2024 to check fire safety arrangements at various coaching centres. Many air conditioned institutes were found to be running in basements in which there was no adequate arrangement for ventilation. Owners of all the coaching centres were informed about the deficiencies through notices to fix the problems. However, the letters were allegedly ignored, after which chief fire officer (CFO) Mangesh Kumar wrote to the regional higher education officer/ district inspector of schools, seeking cancellation of licences of 17 institutes.

No separate entry/exit points

“These institutes don’t have separate entry/exit points, which is crucial in the event of a fire incident. They also do not have NoC, which was found during the fire audit that started after fire incidents in Mukherjee Nagar - the coaching hub in Delhi and other places. We also sought a list of total number of institutes in the city from DIoS. But sans any information, we conducted our own audit,” said Lucknow CFO Mangesh Kumar.

Fire escape guidelines

* Multi-storey buildings, which are 15m and above in height, should have fire escapes or external stairs.

* All fire escapes should be directly connected to the ground. Entry to the fire escape shall be separate and remote from the internal staircase.

* The route to fire escape shall be free of obstructions at all times except the doorway leading to the fire escape which shall have the required fire resistance.

* Fire escape shall be constructed of non-combustible materials.

Notices sent to coaching centres

Allen Coaching Centre, Halwasiya Court, Hazratganj

Bhavan Kota Study Forum, Jankipuram Extension

Times Coaching Centre, Texts Library, Hardoi Road, Thakurganj

Coaching setter, Chauhan Plaza, Hardoi Road, Thakurganj.

Boston Academy, Jama Masjid Road, Thakurganj

NEET Institute, Hardoi Road, Thakurganj

Prashant Sir Classes, Lajpat Nagar, Chowk

Dynamite Educational Hub, Sector B-5/18, Aliganj

Aakar Coaching Centre, B-59 Sector-H, Aliganj

Gravity Coaching Centre, Ved Plaza, Kapoorthala Chauraha, Aliganj