Students’ safety paramount, action soon against instts flouting norms: DM

“It is glaring that despite being served with multiple notices, the institutes continue to flout the fire safety norms,” the DM said.

A day after HT published a report of 17 prominent coaching institutes flouting fire safety norms at their Aliganj centres despite warnings, Lucknow district magistrate Vishak G said definite action would be taken against such institutes.

Many of the coaching centres in the city have only a single entry/exit point.

The DM said he read the report, and “it is glaring that despite being served with multiple notices, the institutes continue to flout the fire safety norms”.

“The safety of students is paramount and is a serious subject for the administration... I will look into how these issues can be addressed, and definite action will be taken against such institutes.”

He, however, noted that chief fire officer (CFO) Mangesh Kumar had not directly brought the issue to his notice yet.

HT recently conducted a reality check and found out that at least 17 coaching institutes in Lucknow continued to operate with inadequate fire safety arrangements despite several notices issued to them in this regard. Also, the CFO sought cancellation of their licences for violation of norms, which was revealed during an audit report.

The DM also said that the CFO and fire department could themselves take action against the institute’s flouting norms.

“We will have a meeting with the CFO in this regard,” added the DM. “While it will be difficult to make structural changes in old buildings, if the institutes are set up in recent ones then they must follow the bylaws of the National Building Code of India.

The CFO, meanwhile, said the fire department would soon discuss the issue with the DM.