Playing with fire, and child safety
CWC will soon inspect children homes...
K. SUVARTHA,
CWC chairperson, Krishna district
A recent fire at a girls’ hostel in Vijayawada has unveiled alarming safety lapses in Andhra Pradesh’s child care institutions. The blaze exposed the absence of fire safety norms in more than half of the State’s 740 child care homes. Activists as well as government officers call for urgent inspections and immediate reforms to ensure the safety of vulnerable children, writes Rajulapudi Srinivas
On the evening of February 29, the desperate cries of a few students pierced through the quietude at the Urban Residential Hostel for Girls in Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh. The girls were immersed in studies when they noticed a roaring inferno at a ground floor room of the twostorey building around 8.30 p.m. They hastily evacuated the hostel, their screams echoing through Vinayaka Nagar in Kanuru, a neighbourhood in Vijayawada, and prompting locals to rush to their aid.
“Thick smoke had filled the room in which fire started. We were all panicking,” recalls Chinnari, a PG student staying at the hostel. This child care institution (CCI) is run by a voluntary organisation named Vasavya Mahila Mandali in Krishna district. Inmates, referred by the district Child Welfare Committee (CWC), are students, from primary to post graduation level.
A fire tender rushed in from Auto Nagar and doused the flames, averting what could have been a major tragedy. Concerted efforts by the locals and firefighters ensured safe evacuation of all 67 inmates. As the embers of the fire subsided, revealing blackened walls and the remnants of destruction — a burnt computer, melted electric cables and personal belongings — the glaring absence of fire safety compliance and a NoObjection Certificate (NOC) loomed ominously.
“The building does not have an NOC from the AP State Disaster Response and Fire Services Department. There were no fire extinguishers at the hostel,” Auto Nagar Station Fire Officer K. Naresh, who led the firemen, had said.
It is not just this particular facility; numerous CCIs across the State, catering to orphans, semiorphans, trafficked and abused children, victims of child marriage, and other vulnerable cases, fall short on safety standards. Officials from the Juvenile Welfare, Correctional Services, and Welfare of Street Children department, the licensing and monitoring authority, reveal a disconcerting reality — more than half of the 740 child care homes in Andhra Pradesh lack a fire NOC, and disregard fire safety norms.
Disaster waiting to happen
The State houses 41 Government Bala Sadans, providing shelter for children aged up to five years, and 17 Observation Homes for Boys and Girls, including four governmentrun children homes.
Officers of the Fire, Juvenile Welfare, Education, Revenue, Women Development & Child Welfare (WD&CW) and other departments do not inspect the homes on a regular basis, even as the children put up with poor facilities, allege activists. Many of these CCIs do not have proper buildings, and lack drinking water, toilets, playgrounds, sick rooms, medical kits and security measures, they say.
Director of Juvenile Welfare, Correctional Services and Welfare of Street Children, B.D.V. Prasad Murthy says the 740 CCIs functioning in A.P. also include privately run ones, and a majority are not fire safety compliant. “On the other hand, all 70 of our governmentrun children homes have NOC from the Fire department,” he maintains.
Murthy says the government has not renewed licence of the Urban Residential Hostel for Girls where the fire broke out, since two years. The staff, who inspected the girls hostel recently, found that the home is being funded by Sarva Siksha Abhiyan (SSA).
The government has issued orders to the district collectors to visit the CCIs, enquire about the facilities and take steps for renewal of licences. Circulars would be sent to the CCI managements across the State to obtain fire NOCs immediately, he adds.
A narrow escape
Upon noticing the fire at the Urban Residential Hostel for Girls, some of the inmates switched off power supply, gas pipeline and alerted the fire personnel, Vasavya Mahila Mandali secretary G. Rashmi says. “Some residents of the colony also rushed to the hostel and helped the firemen in evacuating the building and dousing fire,” she adds.
Krishna CWC members Chandragiri Radha Kumari, Y. Ravi Bhargav and Ch. Raj Kumar inspected the home. “We interacted with the inmates, warden and the locals to enquire about the mishap. The girls had a narrow escape. They said the locals saved them after breaking the locks on the main gate,” explains Radha Kumari.
District Child Protection Officer Mounisha, who visited the hostel, expressed shock when she found that the kitchen was housed in the same building, violating safety norms.
Mission Vatsalya (formerly Integrated Child Protection Scheme) staff enquired about the fire accident, reasons for the mishap and recorded the statements of the staff and the students.
Officials of WD&CW, SSA, Juvenile Welfare and the CWC say that the child care home management did not alert the government departments immediately after the fire accident. “We got information through email after two days of the incident,” Krishna district CWC chairperson K. Suvartha says.
Rashmi, for her part, maintains that information was conveyed to the officials concerned on time.
Suvartha observes that children’s homes should not have kitchens in the same buildings where dormitories were located. The management should provide playgrounds, enough toilets, purified drinking water and maintain hygienic conditions, she points out. “The CWC will soon inspect children homes, enquire about the facilities and insist on obtaining NOC. Notices would be served to the homes found not having proper fire safety equipment,” she warns.
Children homes should not run from thatched houses and dilapidated buildings. The home managements should take all precautions for the safety of the children, she adds.
“All child care homes should obtain license from the Fire Services department and arrange for fire fighting equipment at multiple locations. Besides, they should display contact details of Police, Fire department, ambulance and other emergency numbers. Complaint boxes are a must at all CCIs,” Suvartha says.
Additional Director of Fire Services, G. Srinivasulu also agrees that a large number of the homes for children, orphans, mentally ill and children with special needs were running without a fire NOC in the State. “We request the managements of the homes to obtain an NOC from the nearby fire stations. The CCIs should provide fire fighting equipment to prevent any mishaps,” he says, adding that fire personnel will visit the homes, give demo to the children and the staff on rescue operations at multistorey buildings and in operating the fire safety gadgets.
Safety equipment and precautions
AP State Commission for Protection of Child Rights chairman K. Appa Rao says that children who were rescued from sexual abuse, child mariage or Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act cases are referred to CCIs.
“As the children staying in the homes were key witnesses in some cases pending in courts, the managements should focus on their safety,” Appa Rao says. The children homes should be accommodated in buildings which have spacious rooms with proper ventilation, and with access to fire tenders. The homes should obtain fire NOC and get the licences renewed from time to time, he explains.
“The staff should be trained in evacuating the children in case of an emergency. The CCI managements should be protective towards Children in Need of Care and Protection, and provide necessary fire safety gadgets for the ensuing summer to prevent any tragedies,” the SCPCR chairman says.
Officials concerned should focus on hostels being run by educational institutions across the State. In many hostels, the electric circuits were not being properly maintained and the cables and switch boards were seen hanging from the walls, Appa Rao points out.
Director of Electrical Safety, G. Vijaya Lakshmi says fire accidents can be avoided if proper protective gear and standard equipments are used: “All electricity consumers should use Residual Current Circuit Breakers to prevent electric shocks and fire hazards. The Government of India has made RCCB mandatory in 2023.”
Children homes, schools and hostels should use standard electrical equipment, and have their cables checked by licensed electricians, she advises. “Since there is heavy load due to continuous use of electrical appliances, the managements should have them checked to prevent short circuits and accidents,” she says.