Only 800 schools, colleges comply with fire safety norms

HYDERABAD: In a bid to make educational institutions in the city comply with fire safety rules, the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) has put up a list of all erring institutions on its website.
It has been found that only 800 of the 4,000-odd educational institutions in the city follow fire safety norms. The civic body published the list of institutions which are not fire safe, after its repeated directives to managements to set things right fell on deaf ears.
Officials have identified 295 junior colleges, 2,869 schools and 547 degree and engineering colleges as ‘unsafe’ for students from the point of view of fire mishaps. “There are close to 4,000 educational institutions within GHMC limits. But only 800 of them have applied for no objection certificate (NOC) from the fire prevention wing. Many run the risk of fire accidents. These institutions have put the lives of thousands of students in peril,” said P Venkata Ramana, additional director of fire prevention wing of GHMC.
Since the GHMC cannot initiate direct action against these erring educational institutions, civic officials have submitted the list of violators to education officers of Hyderabad and RR districts. “The district education officers (DEOs) may either cancel the permits till they receive NOC or set a particular time frame for them to take fire prevention measures. They run the risk of losing recognition next academic year if they do not improve things,” he added.
Most of these schools are located in residential complexes. Officials say fire safety norms for schools and residential buildings are quite different. Since residential buildings have narrow staircases, chances of a stampede in the wake of a fire mishap are higher if a school is located there. . “Many residential buildings do not have fire-fighting equipment. We have been sensitizing the managements of schools, but the response from them has not been quite encouraging,” the GHMC official said.
When contacted, a few managements claimed that they have all fire safety norms in order. But many of them are oblivious of the fact that their school or college figures in the GHMC’s list of `fire unsafe’ institutions.