BHUBANESWAR: In the wake of the coaching centre fire tragedy in Gujarat’s Surat, Odisha Fire Service officials are mulling to conduct an audit of educational institutions operating in the City. The State Capital is one of the most preferred educational centres in the country with lakhs of students coming here every year either to pursue higher studies or take coaching classes for various competitive examinations.
The City houses hundreds of coaching centres, most of which are least bothered about safety measures like having proper signage, emergency exits and fire equipment in their buildings.
This apart, there is a lack of situational awareness among people during fire mishaps. Most of the people are not trained to fight even a small blaze, let alone knowing what needs to be done in case a major fire breaks out.
Odisha Fire Service DG BK Sharma said, “We are contemplating to conduct an audit to check fire consciousness of authorities and students in educational institutions operating in the City. We will also inspect the fire safety measures in place at these institutions.”
Fire safety and fire consciousness are two different things. In Surat, many students leaped out of windows as they did not have fire consciousness. “The students need to be educated about the response to fire situations and the drills so that the harm is minimised. The staff, students, teachers and the management of educational institutes have to be very cautious about fire safety.” said Sharma.
Earlier in February, the State Government amended Odisha Fire Prevention and Fire Safety Rules, 2017 to cover more establishments and speed up issuance of fire safety certificates. Existing provisions under Rule 9(1) regarding classification of certain premises and occupancies were changed.
Small coaching institutes, which are functioning in buildings having a height less than 12 metres, do not come directly under the Fire department’s jurisdiction, a senior official said. Under the amended provisions, educational buildings with a height of 12 metre and above have to obtain fire safety certificates, he added.