VIJAYAWADA: The fire safety norms for issuing No Objection Certificates (NOC) have been eased by the state government following requests from managements of various private schools. According to the new norms, buildings of educational institutions which are less than 6 metres high need not get a No Objection Certificates from the Fire Services Department. But they have to take No Objection Certificates from the authorised electrical, and civil engineers for a year and conduct mock fire safety drills in schools.
The school managements who want to renew their NOC have to apply to their District Education Officer or Municipal Commissioner. If those institutions are affiliated to universities, they have to apply for No Objection Certificates with the registrar concerned. The No Objection Certificates for government educational institutions will be provided by the District Fire Services Authority, said Madireddy Pratap, Director General, Disaster Response and Fire Services department, in a gazette notification issued on Friday. A safety inspection will be carried out at around 40,000 schools and colleges.