Govt orders probe into Mirambika fire clearance

DEPUTY CHIEF Minister Manish Sisodia has ordered the Secretary (Home) to initiate a vigilance inquiry against the Delhi Fire Service officials who granted a fire safety certificate to the new building of Mirambika Free Progress School.

Sisodia has also ordered an inquiry against officials who did not respond to RTI applications filed by parents who sought information about the certificate, and officials who did not take cognisance of complaints which said the new school building was not built in 1958 — as claimed by the school management.

Mirambika School has been in trouble with the government for the past month. The school had shifted from its original building to an ashram building in 2015, after the school management said the land on which the original building was constructed was meant for a college.

The Delhi government suspended a senior education department official last month after it was revealed that she had furnished a wrong affidavit in the Delhi High Court, which favoured the school. The government has now told the court that children should be shifted to the original building and campus.

“This is a big lapse because the building was deliberately shown as an old one. Parents came to us with photographic proof showing that the building, where the children were shifted to, was built in 2015. The school management, however, told the fire officials that the building was built in 1958, which was incorrect. The fire officials did not look into complaints against the school before granting the clearance certificate,” said a senior government official.

The government has also ordered a fresh fire safety inspection of the building that the school is currently operating from.