Excelsior Correspondent
Srinagar, June 6: Taking a cue from the recent fire incident in Surat which left 15 dead, the State Fire and Emergency Services Department is now rushing to put things in place by ordering a maiden comprehensive fire safety audit of coaching centers across the State.
The higher-ups have decided to carry out the fire safety audit of all the coaching centers operating across the State. What is interesting is that the department has not been carrying out such an audit so far.
Deputy Director Fire and Emergency Services, Bashir Ahmad Shah told Excelsior that they have been directed to carry out the fire safety audit of all the coaching centers across the State.
“We have been recently given directions to carry out the fire safety audit of all the coaching centers in the State. DG Fire and Emergency Services has asked to do the required in order to carry out the audit so that the lacunae, if any, can be identified,” Shah said, adding that the “audit is a first of its kind”. Jammu and Srinagar cities will be taken care of and after that we will take it to the district-level”, he said.
Though, as per the Deputy Director, the department has been carrying out the fire safety audit of schools in the State which he says is a regular process. It has failed to keep an eye on the coaching centers, many are flouting the guidelines. “We will put forth our recommendations regarding the preventive measures; if we find any discrepancies, we will put those forward as we are already doing in case of schools where we are carrying audits frequently,” he said.
He said that what really possess a challenge are the coaching centers operating from three or four storey building as the department will have to look into the matter that if the buildings are really following the guidelines. “Single storey buildings are not an issue, what really is challenging are three or four storey buildings,” he said.
Given the first fire safety audit that will be carried out for coaching centers in J&K, Shah added that the department will look into the arrangements that are in place to deal with the fires initially at the coaching centers. “We have to make sure that within a minute, those stuck inside, be it fire of earthquake, must be evacuated within a minute from the spot,” he said.
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