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No fire safety equipment in any govt school DM to take action against defaulter Mock fire exercises a rarity No funds for fire fighting gadgets
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?
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Schools in slums lack proper exits Muktsar, July 22 The worse situation was found in schools that are running from residential premises in most of the slum areas of the districts. In Bathinda, such schools exist in Paras Ram Nagar, Gopal Nagar, Janata Nagar, Jogi Nagar, Lal Singh Basti and Partap Nagar. What to talk of fire fighting equipment, there is no proper way that the students in these schools can be evacuated in case of any fire. These schools are running in congested rooms in narrow lanes. So much so, these schools have narrow staircases leading to the classrooms, and not more than two persons can pass at a time. The Tribune team visited one of such school Ravindra Model School on Gurukul Road, Paras Ram Nagar, Bathinda but found no ‘model’ in this school. The alarming situation in the school can easily be judged from the fact that over 300 schools study in the double storeyed building, built on not more than a 10-marla plot of land. Only two exit points, including the main gate, were found in the school. When contacted, the principal of the school Mr Sadhu Ram, told The Tribune that he was going to install fire-fighting equipment in the school shortly. Similarly, The Tribune found no fire fighting equipment in Good Faith Public High School of the same locality. The principal of the School, Mr P.K. Mittal, said that the school had been recognised by the PSEB but admitted that no PSEB official had asked them to install any fire safety equipment at the time of providing recognition. Schools running in spacious buildings also lack adequate fire fighting arrangements. The principals Mr Jarnail Singh and Ms Neelam Kakkar of Guru Teg Bahadur Senior Secondary School and Sanatam Dharam Senior School of Malout in Muktsar district told The Tribune that they had installed fire extinguisher for their chemistry laboratory. Both claimed that some science teachers knew how to operate them. Similarly, The Tribune team found no fire extinguisher in Police Public School, Bathinda. However, the principal of the school, Mr Raj Kamal Devashwar said that the school was arranging them after the fire incident in
Kumbakonam in Tamil Nadu. Meanwhile, the District Education Officer (DEO) Muktsar, Mr S.K. Mehta, admitted that most of the schools affiliated with the PSEB did not have any fire fighting arrangements. He said that he had already issued a letter to all the schools to take proper fire safety measures for the safety of the students. |
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No fire safety equipment in any govt school Mohali, July 22 ‘‘We have no jurisdiction over government schools. They are run and handled solely by the Education Department. We provide them with affiliation but our fire safety and other norms are meaningless since they are the government's own
schools," pointed ours Mrs Veena Dada, in charge of affiliations, PSEB. Admitting that none of the government schools across the state have any fire safety provisions, the Principal Secretary, School Education, Punjab, Mrs Tejinder Kaur, stated that the department would come up with a policy in this regard. ‘‘If fire safety equipment has to be installed in all government schools, a large amount of money will be required. For this other departments of the state have to be roped in. If we get fund for this, it should be just a matter of time before all schools have both fire fighting equipment and trained
staff," she said. Interestingly, however, the Department of Education in its set of regulations for private schools, demands that all schools have fire safety equipment installed. ‘‘Every school that has to apply for an affiliation from the Central Board of Secondary Education has to get a no-objection certificate (NoC) from the District Education Officer (DEO). Among the various conditions laid down by the DEO, adherence to fire safety norms is one,’’ pointed out Mr Rajan Sethi, owner of a set of private schools in Chandigarh and Mohali. So while the Punjab State Education Department is ensuring that fire safety equipment be installed in all CBSE schools across the state, its own schools have no such provisions. ‘‘The main reason for this is that for the past over 32 years there has been no fire related accident in any of the government schools. After the incident in South India we have all woken up to the precautions that need to be
taken," said Mr Gyan Singh, Director, Public Instructions (Schools), Punjab. Mr S.S. Sekhon, the Chief Architect, Punjab, pointed out that government school building plans are made following all the requisite norms of the Fire Act. ‘‘Plans prepared by us are given to the Public Works Department which constructs the government school buildings. Other than strictly following the local area bylaws, we follow the norms laid down by the Fire Safety Acts. The size of the corridors, the classrooms, water tanks etc are built according to the size of the school. |
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DM to take action against defaulter Bathinda, July 22 Mr Sinha, while talking to The Tribune, said that though so far it could not be known how many schools in this district had not installed fire safety equipment, the Additional Deputy Commissioners and General Assistant had been asked to collect information in connection with the same. He said that a meeting with the managements of private schools of the district would be held on Tuesday next and would be urged to equip their schools with fire safety equipment as per the norms laid down by the agency concerned if their school were lacking the same. He added that if it was found that any school management was not taking the necessary steps, penal action would be taken against the school. He pointed out that a comprehensive survey would be conducted in the district. He added that nothing would be left to chance. The District Education Officer (DEO) would also be put on this job. |
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Mock fire exercises a rarity Kapurthala, July 22 During the morning assembly, the principal of the school declared that such an exercise was being planned at the end of the day and that the students should follow the instructions that would be given to them over the microphone. A small log of wood was burnt in the centre of the building for demonstration. The smoke detectors installed in the building rang an alarm. The students were told to quickly come out of the building and gather near the school grounds. The whole exercise was successfully completed in less than three minutes. The officers from the Fire Department who had been invited to attend the exercise demonstrated the use of the dry and wet fire extinguishers. They gave guidelines to the students to be followed in case of such a mishap. They even checked the entire fire extinguishing equipment and declared it fit for the next six months. But unfortunately such arrangements and demonstrations are very unusual in the schools of the district. Most schools of the district do not even have a single fire extinguisher installed in their buildings. Others have one or two extinguishers that are not in working conditions at the moment. The authorities had purchased such systems long ago to fulfill the affiliation norms of the Punjab School Education Board (PSEB). As of today they are lying defunct, hung unused on the same wall for the past several years. |
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No funds for fire fighting gadgets Sangrur, July 22 When this reporter today contacted the office of the DEO (Secondary), Sangrur, an officer admitted there were no instructions from the government with regard to installation of fire fighting equipment in the schools. However, the school authorities were free to install such equipment but due to shortage of funds they were unable to install the same, he added. Mr Jiwan Kumar Garg, Principal of Springdales Public Senior Secondary School, Sangrur, said they had four fire extinguishers but they were now lying in the store. However, he stated that they would now install five extinguishers each on the ground and first floor of the buildings. This school had a strength of about 1500 students, and the school building had four escape points each at the ground and first floor, he added. Ms Raveen Pande, Principal, General Gurnam Singh Public School, said the school had no major fire fighting equipment. However, it had small fire extinguishers only in the science laboratory, library and principal’s room. |
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87
school kids burnt to death in TN TN
tragedy toll 90; five held
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