Fire safety audit of coaching centers in Steel City soon

JAMSHEDPUR: Private coaching institutes that run in commercial buildings here defying the fire safety rules will now face the wrath of the district administration.
The move comes after the deadly fire that claimed several lives in Surat, Gujarat.
District administration officials said they will conduct random inspections of the buildings where the coaching centers operate to ensure effective implementation of the fire safety measures.
DC Amit Kumar said, "Along with the inspection of the buildings, mass awareness drive on fire safety measures will also be carried out."
Convener of the Jamshedpur Abhivabvak Sangh that submitted a representation to the DC for a fire audit of the coaching centres said, "The devastating fire mishap at a coaching centre in Surat that killed 20 students on May 24 was an eye opener. Hence, we thought it prudent to seek a fresh audit of the fire safety measures."
Close to 150 coaching centres are running in the multi-storied commercial buildings in Sakchi, Bistupur, Golmuri, Sidhgora and Baridih among other places in the Steel City that provides coaching classes to the engineering, medical, railway, banking, state and central public service commission job aspirants, but barring a handful, majority of the centres lack fire safety measures.
Prerna Classes, one of the leading preparatory institutes in Bistupur, has adhered to the fire safety measures, effectively.
"Along with installing fire sprinklers in each of the three floors, we have installed smoke detectors and have three separate emergency doors in each of the floor besides two ladders and rope for use in case of emergencies," said a Prerna Classes official, Shailash Kumar.
Akash institute centre director, Rajesh Kumar, said, "We have also installed fire control devices and carry fire audit periodically."