How equipped are schools to tackle fire? HC asks govt

LUCKNOW: The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad high court has asked the principal secretary, home, to inform the court about the steps taken to ensure that fire fighting equipment is in place at educational institutions.

The division bench of Justice Vikram Nath and Justice Abdul Moin also asked the Lucknow’s chief fire officer and district inspector of schools to give details of institutions where necessary measures have already been implemented.

In an order dated May 9, the court also sought the list of institutions where security measures are yet to be implemented.

“The court observed that fire safety equipment should be in place in schools as per various guidelines and judgments of high court and the Supreme Court on the issue,” said Shashank Singh and Pushpila Bisht, counsels for petitioner.

Earlier, the court admitted the public interest litigation (PIL) filed by advocate Anil Kumar Yadav seeking directions for implementation of safety norms, especially those related to fire safety, in the educational institutions.

The petitioner approached the court with reference to Chowk and Anand Nagar branches of City Montessori School (CMS).

He pointed out that these two schools do not have necessary fire safety equipment.

While the high court issued notice to CMS founder manager Jagdish Gandhi and principal of

both the campuses, the school management claimed that both the campuses are equipped with all fire safety installations as per the national building code/ norms.

“Both the campuses are fully equipped with equipment to tackle fire and evacuation plan is fixed on all the floors in both the campuses for safe evacuation of children in case of any eventuality,” said Gandhi.

“Fire evacuation and safety drill is conducted on regular basis in both the campuses,” Gandhi claimed.