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Parents move high court over fire safety violations in South Delhi school
New Delhi:
New Delhi:
In the wake of the Anaj Mandi fire that claimed 43 lives, parents of a private school in south Delhi have moved the Delhi High Court over concerns of fire safety violations in the school and sought the appointment of an independent administrator to take over the institute’s management.
Last week, a report tabled by the Petitions Committee in the Delhi Legislative Assembly and adopted by the House noted that KR Mangalam World School, GK II, “was found to be pandering in many illegalities, keeping the safety of the young students and staff at stake.”
The report mentioned that the school’s fire safety certificate was suspended in June this year after “deviations were discovered from the building bye-laws pertaining to fire prevention and fire safety measures.”
“Significant additions and alterations of the area against the completion plan along with unauthorised construction of basement have been found which is being used as classrooms and office spaces,” the report had further stated.
Aggrieved by the recent incident of fire in the capital, the KR Mangalam Parents’ Association moved an application, seeking appointment of a retired judge as independent administrator who should take over the management of the school for three years, restrain fresh admissions for that period to regulate intake of students and to initiate action against erring officials.
“The Anaj Mandi tragedy was raised in our parents’ association meeting. One shouldn’t wait for something like this to happen to take action,” said Mukul Prabhakar, president of KR Mangalam Parents’ Association and petitioner in the case.
“In addition to no fire safety clearance, illegal rooms had been created to accommodate the increased student strength. As parents, we are concerned that if there were a calamity, there would not be adequate free passage to escape,” said Prabhakar, whose two children study in the school.
The application was filed in a pending plea, related to the same school, and is likely to be heard on Wednesday before a bench of chief justice DN Patel and Justice C Hari Shankar.
Despite repeated attempts, the management of KR Mangalam School did not comment on the matter.
This is not the first time parents’ association raised fire safety concerns in the capital’s schools. In July, Delhi Parents Association (DPA) had said that, as per a Right to Information query filed by them, over 30% of schools were functioning without fire safety no-objection certificates (NOCs).
The Delhi government’s education department had also issued showcause notices to over 100 private schools after a Delhi Fire Services report in June stated that 241 schools did not comply with the shortcomings communicated by the Fire Service Department.
Reasons for not obtaining the certificate included substandard fire-fighting arrangements, expired or defunct fire extinguishers, the width of staircases was not as per required measurements, and fewer water tankers.
