University officials accused of negligence

A VIDEO, WHICH HAS ALSO GONE VIRAL ON SOCIAL MEDIA, SHOWS ADITI FALLING FROM THE ROOF OF THE UNIVERSITY, WHICH IS HEAVILY CROWDED BY STUDENTS

A tragic accident that shocked Jaipur on Monday morning has raised serious questions on the safety measures being followed at private institutions where disaster management workshops take place.

Nineteen-year-old Aditi Sanghi fell to her death during a workshop on mountaineering at the IIS University, which was being held under the supervision of her father.

A video of the incident, which has also gone viral on social media, shows Aditi falling from the roof of the university, which is heavily crowded by students.

According to experts, it seems that the workshop was not conducted following all requisite safety measures. “It appears that in this particular incident, standard operating procedures were not followed, given the fact that it is of utmost importance that the participants are made aware about the safety measures taken during such trainings,” BL Soni, additional director general of police, SDRF told HT.

Soni, who commands the state disaster response force, said that during training sessions of SDRF recruits, a substantial time is dedicated to explaining safety measures.

“We spend almost half of the first day of training explaining various safety measures that need to be taken during the training and also what is the course of action if something goes wrong. Traditionally, such workshops should be conducted in a controlled environment,” said the ADG.

Apart from Aditi, the video shows that several other students were standing on the roof without wearing any safety harness and were dangerously close to the edge.

Akash Jindal, an accomplished mountaineer who is actively involved in adventure sports, said that there was negligence on part of the organisers. “Safety protocol of adventure sports state that only the person participating in the activity should come forward while the others should stay behind. While in the video it’s seen that several people are standing on roof,” said Jindal. HTC