Govt orders DFS to submit report on schools violating safety norms
NEW DELHI: In a bid to ensure fire safety norms in all schools in Delhi, the AAPled government has asked the fire department to submit a report on schools that have not installed proper fire safety mechanism. "We are in consultation with Delhi Fire Services (DFS) to identify Delhi Government schools which do not have fire safety certificate," said an official.
He added that Public Works Department (PWD) is the executive agency for construction of Delhi government schools, a letter has already been written to it for the issuance of structural stability certificate.
"Earlier we also ordered PWD to remove infrastruc- tural deficiencies in 38 schools which are yet to obtain fire NOC," he said. The official added that as per the information collected from Delhi government schools and Delhi Fire Service Department, of the 725 government school buildings, presently, 463 have been issued valid fire NOC while 198 have applied for renewal of fire NOC. "Of the remaining 64, the fire department has conveyed shortcomings like the width of staircase, width of classroom gate in 38 schools while 26 do not have the feasibility to be issued fire NOC," he said.
According to the department, of the 208 government aided schools, 103 have valid fire NOC and the rest of the schools have been asked to apply for the same at the earliest. "As for the private unaided schools, it said a valid fire NOC is a pre-condition for recognition from the directorate," the official said.
He also said that the construction of 10,000 additional classrooms is at an advanced stage of approval, adding that fire NOC has to be renewed in every 3 years which is a continuous process.
The department also submitted that the public grievance commission had suo-moto taken cognizance of the case of fire NOCS in all schools including schools of local bodies and upon regular monitoring, the issuance of fire NOC showed significant improvement with only 321 schools having the said NOC in 2011, 361 schools in 2013 and 372 schools in 2014.