Educational institutions in Nagpur lack fire fighting systems

The fire at a coaching institute in Surat that killed over 20 students has brought into focus issue of fire safety at around 130 educational institutions, including private coaching classes in Nagpur. These institutions have failed to install fire safety equipment despite repeated notices from the Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) fire and emergency services department, according to its officials. In this scenario, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration that an incident like Surat can happen in Nagpur too. The department, which conducted a series of inspections over the last one year, has declared 902 buildings — commercial, educational and residential buildings — fire unsafe. Led by chief fire officer RajendraUchake, the department had also directed the state electricity distribution company and NMC’s water works department to disconnect power and water connections of 466 establishments. Besides, it had sealed 22 premises in both city and Nagpur Metro Regional Development Authority limits. According to data procured from NMC’s fire department, among the eight fire stations jurisdictions, the highest number of 26 educational institutions lack firefighting systems under the Lakadganj zone. Ganjipeth zone, which covers old city areas like Gandhibagh, Mominpuraetc has 22 institutions including schools and colleges running without basic firefighting system.