Standards of fire safety in city schools are putting lives of students, teachers and other employees at risk as around 43 per cent of the institutions here — 1,448 in number — do not conform to fire safety regulations.
Out of a total of over 3,428 schools, 1,980 have been issued No Objection Certificate (NOC) by the Delhi Fire Services (DFS) while the rest either lack fire safety clearance or haven’t responded to the notices issued to them.
“1,448 schools in Delhi have not been issued fire clearance certificate,” a senior DFS official told this newspaper.
He said, “Either the schools have not approached the fire department for the clearance or have not complied with the prescribed fire safety norms.”
Out of all the schools in city, 942 are government-run.
A fire clearance certificate is not a guarantee that the building will never meet with an accident, it just means that reasonable fire safety has been ensured.
As per DFS rules 2010 under Delhi Fire Service Act 2007, the occupier of a building or premises, as the case may be, shall maintain the fire prevention and fire safety measures provided at all times in best repairs for use by the occupants or members of fire service or both in the event of an outbreak of fire.
In the wake of the devastating fire in a Kolkata hospital, chief minister Sheila Dikshit had on Saturday directed the chief fire officer (CFO) to inspect all hospitals, cinema halls, auditoriums, skyscrapers and major buildings to ensure that fire safety norms are being adopted.
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Man kills son, attempts suicide
Gurgaon, Dec. 11: A woman and her husband are in a critical state following suicide attempts while their seven-year-old son was shot by the father.
25-year-old Manju tried to end her life by hanging herself Sunday morning and was admitted to a hospital.
While Manju was in hospital, her husband Pritam took his son Vaibhav to a secluded place and shot him dead. Pritam then fired at himself but was taken by a passerby to a hospital.
Pritam and Manju are still admitted in two different private hospitals while Vaibhav succumbed to his bullet injury on the spot at village, Fazilpur deputy commissioner of police Maheswer Dayal said.
The police has recovered a revolver from the spot and said that a family dispute could be the reason behind the tragedy. — PTI