CoE demands enhanced fire safety in coaching centres

Ludhiana: The members of council of engineers (CoE), a private body, has written to CM Bhagwant Mann to draw his attention towards fire safety measures at coaching centres in the city as well as the state.
They wrote the letter following a recent fire incident in a coaching centre in Delhi, wherein the students had to rappel to save their lives.
The association has requested the state government to ensure adequate safety measures in all coaching centers across the state. They also demanded that not more than 10 students should be allowed to sit in the class at a time.
They suggested introduction of the Punjab Fire Act and said that the fire department should act as an independent statutory body and be equipped with all mandatory paraphernalia including safety gears and fire extinguishers.
The association members said that if the government fails to take action in a month, they will stage a protest in the city.
They claimed that there are private coaching centers in residential as well as commercial areas including Model Town Extension, Kitchlu Nagar, Sarabha Nagar Market, Dugri area, Pakhowal Road, and Jamalpur.
They added that centers operating in residential areas are illegal but the officials concerned are silent on the issue and a similar situation prevails in the rest of the state.
They alleged that such institutes, which operate throughout the day, have been constructed in serious violations of the building by-laws.
Some of the flaws highlighted by the association include narrow staircases, no emergency fire exit, no open space, inappropriate height of ceiling, presence of restaurants or eateries in the same complexes where LPG cylinders are being used, complete front coverage, construction of three to four floors against the permission for two, and no fire NOC.
The members claimed that after a tragic fire incident in Gujrat, the MC here had served notices to some of the coaching centres asking them to obtain fire safety NOCs but to no avail. The association had also filed a petition in the High Court, but the state government is yet to file its reply.