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The entry gate of Arya Girls Senior Secondary School opening into a narrow lane in Purana Bazar in Ludhiana.
— Photo by Inderjit Verma Schools not aware
of fire safety norms 36 Amritsar
schools declared unsafe
Govt, private schools lack fire fighting gadgets Even where equipment exist, staff not trained Safety norms are seldom
checked Fire drill: What is
that? School children wait for the bell to go inside a school in Shahi Majra,
Mohali. |
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Most of Ludhiana schools fire-prone Ludhiana, July 21 Many
multistoried schools in Purana Bazar, Trunk Bazar, Katehra, Bandiya Da Mohalla, Gur Mandi, Mochpura, Katra Nauhria Mal, Hazuri Road, Islam Ganj, Dera Bhajan Garh, Kidwai Nagar, Abdullapur Basti, Salim Tabri, Haibowal and Dugri, which are situated in narrow lanes, flout all fire safety norms. While there are no arrangements to douse fire, the exit and entry points are guarded by sliding grill gates, leaving space for only one child to enter or leave. In many schools, like in Arya Girls Senior Secondary School, Purana Bazar, a small exit point, guarded by grills, opens into a narrow (about 10-feet) street. The school, which houses 900 students any day, is virtual tinderbox. The threestoreyed building with a single staircase in each block and rooms hoping each other make the students once vulnerable in the case of fire. Moreover, a fire engine cannot enter the school since the entrance is through a winding narrow lane. Similarly, in government aided, Rai Jugal Kishore Dharam School in Katra Nauhria Mal area, two firefighting cylinders were installed in a single room. A single exit point was guarded by grill and the gate was blocked by construction material lying in front. Headmistress Binder Sharma said the cylinders were installed by the District Education Department only last year. But these were not refilled this year. In R.B. Saligram Girls School in Katehra, only one firefighting cylinder was in place. Another one was dumped in the godown, the Headmistress said, after it was mishandled by students. That in place was gathering dust and it had not been refilled for the past six years. The dingy staircases make it impossible for students to run for safety in case of a fire. With every household in the locality housing small hosiery units and thousands of meters of fire prone fabric stored in each house, the area has the notoriety of being the most fire prone. But the authorities seem to be sleeping over the problem. Mr Avinash Chander Sethi, District Education Officer, when contacted, said the Deputy Commissioner, Ludhiana, Mr Anurag Verma, had called a meeting of some school representatives , officials of the Fire Department and Education Department on Monday. He had issued instructions to all the schools to follow the fire safety norms strictly. Mr Sethi, however, said he did not know about the new action plan as he had not attended the meeting. The Deputy District Education Officer, who attended the meeting was said to be on leave. Officials of the Fire Department said as per safety norms, there should be one cylinder for seven rooms, four buckets of sand and one fire extinguisher in every laboratory, near the generator room and record room. The Punjab School Education Board had even directed the schools to get their fire fighting systems checked and seek written approval from the district fire officers. However, a fire officer, on the condition of anonymity, said no school in the city had got any approval from them for over the past one year. He said most of the schools in the lists available with them were affiliated to the Central Board of Secondary Education. Sanatan Vidya Mandir, a senior secondary school, is without any fire fighting system. Ms Sadhna Sharma, Principal, said the school management probably did not feel the need to have one. “There has been no such incident in the past. It all depends on God. If fate has a tragedy in store for us, it is going to happen,” she opined. There was not a single fire extinguisher in the double storeyed SDP Senior Secondary School, Hazuri Road. With a strength of 1500 odd students, the school authorities never felt the need of installing one. Mr Ashok Kumar Verma, Principal of the school, admitted that he had not installed it anywhere as he did not feel the need. “But after the tragedy we have been shaken. I am going to order an elaborate system today only,” he added hurriedly. Mr N.K.Narda, Principal of Greenland multi-storeyed school, said he was going to construct a huge water tank and had ordered the shifting of the generator room after the tragedy. |
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Army schools an exception Gurdaspur July 21 What to talk of fire fighting systems about 63 government schools in the district were being run in unsafe building that are prone to any type of accident. The report regarding the unsafe schools has been sent to the government but no action was being taken in the matter. The DEO Secondary Gurdaspur Mr Sukhdev Singh Kahlon, admitted that most of the government schools in the district lacked the fire fighting equipment. He, however, added that directions were now being issued to the principals of the all schools to remove the dried grass from their compound that could be the likely cause of fire and arrange for fire fighting equipment. The most dangerous situation in terms of fire threat was posed by private schools located in narrow lanes of the city. Hundreds of such schools exist in the urban areas of the district. Thousands of students study in such schools that have been built in gross violation of the designs approved for schools. Let aside fire fighting equipment even the fire tenders cannot approach such schools in case of an emergency. Three Kendriya Vidyalaya schools being run by the Army at Pathankot are, however, a fortunate exception. The army has maintained proper fire fighting equipment in all the schools being run by it. The equipment was also tested in a time bound manner by the fire fighting experts of the army. |
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Schools not aware of fire safety norms Patiala, July 21 A random survey revealed that many of the schools in the city had not incorporated any fire safety measure in their premises. What to talk of fire extinguishers, most of the schools do not even have any sand baskets or emergency fire exits. None have an emergency fire plan to evacuate children in an orderly manner in case of a fire. A few schools which are frequented by wards of the so called upper crust and charge high fee are also not following the requisite safety measures. One such case is the British Coed School in the city. The school, which is situated in an old building with narrow staircases and small classrooms does not have any fire extinguisher on its premises. School Manager Tejinder Singh when questioned on this first said that fire extinguishers were installed at various spots. When asked to show them he said they had been dismantled during the summer holidays and would be put into place soon. He did not have any coherent answer as to why the extinguishers should be dismantled during the summer holidays and why they had not been installed after the session had restarted. The school has more than 600 children on its rolls, most of them in the junior classes. In the inner city, a tragedy is waiting to happen at many of the premises with no precaution being taken against fire. At the National School’s nursery and middle wing in Dharampura Bazaar one saw children of the primary wing huddled in rooms which open into one another without any corridor. There is only one entrance to the primary wing from where children would have to be evacuated in case of an emergency. School Principal Avtar Singh when questioned said he did not feel any need to install any extinguisher as the fire brigade’s service was very good. He also said that earlier he had bought a fire extinguisher but he did not get the gas replenished after one year as it entailed an expenditure of Rs 1,000. District Education Officer (Secondary) Pritpal Kaur when contacted said she could get fire extinguishers installed in government schools only if the government released a special grant for the purpose. |
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36 Amritsar schools declared unsafe Amritsar, July 21 The principals while admitting that they had almost no arrangement to manage any kind of emergency added that after the Kumbakonam tragedy they had realised than they must adopt immediate measures for the safety of students. All the managements were keen to add fire extinguishers immediately besides making arrangements for providing water and sand buckets. However, the District Education Officer (Secondary) Mr. Mohan Singh Cheema said that the government had not yet issued any instructions to inspect all schools, including private and unrecognised besides aided and government schools for checking the arrangements for meeting fire hazards. Talking about the arrangements to meet any disasters, Mr Cheema said he would be awaiting formal communication from the authorities to set aside funds for fire extinguishers and other equipment. |
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Survey planned in Jalandhar Jalandhar, July 21 The Deputy Commissioner has also written to heads of all civic bodies, including the Municipal Corporation, Jalandhar to pinpoint places where accidents, including fire, could occur. “We will close down the schools, which, do not have arrangements to tackle fire and other accidents,” said Mr Gupta. |
Govt, private schools lack fire fighting gadgets Chandigarh/Panchkula/Mohali, July 20 The visit was an eye opener as we realised that it is a tragedy waiting to happen. None of the schools is up to the mark with regards to fire safety measures. In the name of fire fighting equipment, all that the schools (restricted mainly to public schools) have are fire extinguishers, and in certain cases sand buckets. None of the schools have yard hydrant, sprinkler system or smoke detectors. There have hardly been any fire drills in schools, not even during the Fire Safety Week celebrations, which means only visits to the Fire Station or a painting competition. Neither teachers nor students are trained to handle the fire extinguishers. Officials of the Fire Department have rarely ever visited the schools, except for on occasions when the school had sought ‘‘No Objection Certificate’’ from the Fire Department. In government schools of Panchkula and Mohali, fire safety measures and fire fighting equipment are unheard of. In Chandigarh, though some of the government schools have installed fire extinguishers, no one has checked the equipment. In certain cases the chemical based fire extinguishers has outlived its age. |
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Even where equipment exist, staff not trained Chandigarh, July 20 The only encouraging element in the findings was that a handful of private schools in Chandigarh were, indeed, interested in chalking out plans to save students from a possible blaze. Conducting drills using the identified exit points was not part of a regular feature at any of the schools. Mr P.I.Sabu, Regional Officer of the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), said: ‘‘As per the affiliation bylaws the schools have to obtain a NOC from the civic body and the Fire Department". But it was strange to find that many of the CBSE affiliated schools have not bothered to adhere to the guidelines. Principals of most of the governments schools expressed their helplessness in installing the equipment due to shortage of funds. At a Government High School in Sector 26, sand had been stored in sand buckets in the name of fire control. ‘‘We are asked to get the equipment installed out of the Parent Teachers Association (PTA) funds. Some schools with enough collection from the PTA funds can only afford to procure the equipment’’, confessed the principal of a Government Model Senior Secondary School. When confronted with the level of preparedness, the staff at Government Girls Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 8, admitted that they had not been trained to evacuate children in case of a blaze. Most of the school principals confronted on the issue evaded a reply, saying that their building were quite "airy" and there were little chance of fire. On further probing, they confessed that the infrastructure should be in place but the funds and the training had to come from the Education Department. At Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 23, there were four fire extinguishers and water storage facility but no pipes to carry the water. None of the members of the school was trained to handle the evacuation exercise. Similarly, there was hardly any facility in the name of fire control at Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 19. A similar situation existed at Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 16. There were fire extingishers, sand buckets and water hydrant but no one trained to use them. No contingency plan had ever been made in consultation with the Fire Department. An official at CL DAV Centenary Public School, Sector 8, told The Tribune that no specific firefighting equipment had been installed. She said she hardly remembered when officials from the Fire Department visited the school to train the staff. Fire fighting equipment was found in place at Mount Carmel Convent School, Sector 47. ‘‘Officials from the Fire Department were called to train our staff and the equipment were installed on their advice", said Mr Charles Samuel, Principal of the school. Students of Classes IX and X have been trained to deal with any situation arising out of a blaze. At Bhavan Vidyalaya, Sector 27, the school authorities were busy preparing a contingency plan in case of a fire. The teachers and school captains were being trained in evacuation exercise. The infrastructure existed but the staff lacked training. ‘‘The students have been involved in preparing the evacuation plans. We will be calling army or local fire officials to train our staff and private security personnel’’. At DAV Public School, Sector 15, fire extinguishers and sand buckets existed. But the school staff has not been trained to handle the situation arising out of a blaze. When The Tribune was going around the school, the administration and the Fire Department — stung by constant media criticism — were visiting all the schools to find out the shortcomings. The report on the state of facilities would be ready in a week, said the Chief Fire Officer, Mr G.S.Bajwa. |
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Safety norms are seldom
checked Panchkula, July 20 School authorities say Fire Department officials have almost never visited the schools to check for adherence to fire safety norms. Mr Bharat B. Gupta, Principal of DC Model School, Sector 7, says the school had called the fire officer three months ago to check the school building for fire safety measures and issue them a No Objection Certificate (NOC). ‘‘The officer had checked all 28 fire extinguishers, but made no recommendations for installing other fire safety equipment,’’ he says. Mr Gupta adds that the school has itself trained its teachers to use fire extinguishers, though fire drills have never been organised nor have the students been taught how to react in case of a fire. ‘‘But we have trained them for disaster management,’’ he says. However, other schools authorities in the township say they do not even remember the last time Fire Department officials had paid a visit to the schools. Officials in Jainendra Public School, Sector 1, say they have never been visited by Fire Department officials. Says the Principal, Mrs Sudha Babbar: ‘‘We have installed fire extinguishers and vatrizers in the mess and in the hostel premises. We had trained the students for quick eviction as part of the Disaster Management Programme three years ago after the earthquake in Gujarat.’’ The Principal of Hansraj Public School, Sector 6, Mr Vijay Kumar, says that ever since he took over in November last year no official from the Fire Department has ever checked the premises. ‘‘We have installed fire extinguishers on all floors, in the laboratories, the mess, canteen and kitchen of the hostel, and check these regularly for the valid time period." However, the school has no yard hydrant, smoke detectors or sprinkler
system. The school authorities say that they have tubewells and underground tanks in the school, and in case of any eventuality their would be sufficient availability of water. The less said the better about the government schools in the township. None of the government schools has any fire extinguisher or yard hydrant. A Principal of a Government High School, on condition of anonymity, said that in her 16 years of service she had not found a single government school equipped for fire fighting. ‘‘The school buildings are airy and built with an approved plan. But we have limited resources at our disposal, and we cannot afford to buy fire fighting equipment,’’ she says. None of the schools running from residential premises have any fire safety equipment. Some of the schools running from Housing Board houses in Sectors 19, 10 and 15 have narrow staircases leading to the class rooms, and only one person can pass by at a time. There are no fire exits and in case of a fire, there is no way that the persons in the school can be evacuated. Fire officials say they will now launch a concerted drive to check the fire fighting facility in all schools. |
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Fire drill: What is
that? Mohali, July 20 Even in schools where there is some arrangement to fight fire, none of the staff members knew how to operate these. The students were the most ignorant since no one had ever told them how to operate these. Not a single school that The Tribune team checked in Mohali had ever undertaken a fire drill. If the situation in government and private affiliated schools is grim, worse, however, is the condition of schools that are running in residential premises. Here hundreds of students are crammed into small rooms with small connecting corridors. In majority of the schools there are single entry doors or gates with no fire exits. ‘‘Larger schools have to follow certain guidelines laid down by the Education Department of the state and the affiliating boards. But schools running in residential premises have no accountability to anyone. Its startling but true that any person in Punjab who wants to open a school till Class VIII does not need any permission from any one,’’ said Mrs Veena Dada, in charge of affiliation in the Punjab School Education Board here. While the local Central Board of Secondary Education chief, Mr P.I. Saboo, proudly pointed out that fire safety certificate was a must for CBSE affiliation schools, a CBSE school principal in Mohali revealed on condition of anonymity that such certificates were available for Rs 500 from any of the private fire management companies. ‘‘But there is a physical check of the firefighting equipment affixed in the school’’
said Mr Saboo. In the schools where the management had affixed firefighting equipment with the help of fire extinguisher manufacturing companies, there is negligible maintenance of these. ‘‘We conduct maintenance checks only once in five years,’’ said Mr Saboo. Thus while CBSE and PSEB schools ensure that their schools have some wherewithal in the name of fire safety equipment, there is no policy to ensure that the schools comply with these norms even after the affiliation process is completed. The teaching staff of all the schools visited by The Tribune team, including Sant Isher Singh Public School Sector, 70 and Phase VII, Sanjay Public School, Sector 70, Renz Step Public School, Shahi Majra, Saupins School, Sector 70, admitted they had no idea what to do in case of a fire. ‘‘We have one peon trained in fire fighting. He knows how to use these extinguishers,’’
pointed out the staff member in charge in Sant Isher Singh Public School, Phase VII. ‘‘We have no one who is trained to douse a fire in the school.’’
admitted the Principal of Sanjay Public School, Mrs R Sethi. ‘‘We have a complete course in Class VIII on disaster management as part of which we will be training some teachers to conduct mock fire and earthquake drills with the students. That should take care of the problem in the future,’’ said Mrs Tiwana, Principal, Saint Soldiers School, Phase VII, adding that they had disaster management drills with students and it took exactly seven minutes to empty the whole school. But for the students, ignorance seems to be bliss. No student had received any instruction from anyone about fire safety. ‘‘No I have no idea what to do in case my classroom catches fire. I guess I will run outside,’’
said Preeti, a Class VI student of Sant Isher Singh Public School, here. |
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87
school kids burnt to death in TN TN
tragedy toll 90; five held
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Chandigarh/Panchkula/
Mohali, July 20
Mohali, July 20
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