Where's the fire? Ask school chiefs

CHANDIGARH: Schools in the UT should learn from the major fire accident at a school in Kumbakkonam, a minor town in Tamil Nadu, claiming nearly 100 school children''s lives. For, several of them have not yet complied with the UT Fire Brigade''s notice to ensure fire safe environs in their premises.
Fire department sources said they had sent notices to the Directorate of Public Instruction (DPI) to get all the schools under its jurisdiction to install fire safety equipment.
"Though the notices are sent after a detailed survey of the schools'' occupancy levels, building height and fire threats, they are slow in responding. Some of them have ignored the notices," said G S Bajwa, UT''s chief fire officer.
Now, the fire department plans to send a detailed letter with its recommendations to each of the schools on Monday. "I just hope, the Tamil Nadu school fire incident spurs the UT schools, both government and private, into action," Bajwa said.
Not just schools, disaster is waiting to happen at government offices and commercial establishments in Sectors 17 and 34, slums and unauthorised rehri markets.
About 500 high-rise buildings (over 15 metres) housing government offices, private companies and commercial establishments were highly fire-prone with hazardous material such as paper documents and clothes stocked in them.
"About 40 per cent of the buildings in Sector 34 are without fire safety mechanisms. New buildings do have fire safety equipment in them as per the national building code,'' said Bajwa.
In Sector 17, buildings were quite old with no in-built fire safety mechanisms. Even after notices asking the shopowners, commercial establishment proprietors and government department heads to fit fire safety equipment, the mandatory safety rules were yet to be followed.
Moreover, the restaurants and roadside eateries use LPG cylinders and other fire sources in such a callous manner, posing a greater risk. In densely populated, unauthorised colonies and slums, people use highly combustible materials such as wood, straw and canvas.