A Day After Lucknow Tragedy, Massive Crackdown Reveals Glaring Lapses
Prayagraj: A massive fire-safety crackdown on coaching institutes in Prayagraj has revealed glaring lapses, with only 16 of the 93 registered coaching centres in the city possessing a valid fire department No Objection Certificate (NOC). Acting in the wake of the commercial building fire in Lucknow that claimed 15 lives, authorities on Tuesday intensified inspections across coaching hubs and sealed three prominent institutes in the Civil Lines area for violating prescribed norms.Joint teams of the fire department, police, education department and Prayagraj Development Authority (PDA) launched a citywide enforcement drive to assess fire safety compliance and building regulations at coaching institutes.District Inspector of Schools (DIOS) Santosh Kumar Rai said that 93 coaching institutes are officially registered in Prayagraj. He added that a separate exercise is underway to identify unregistered coaching centres and initiate action against them.Chief fire officer (CFO) Chandramohan Sharma said special teams began inspections on Tuesday morning in coaching-dense localities considered educational hubs. By 4 pm, seven coaching institutes had been inspected, and action was being initiated against those found violating safety norms.The CFO said only 16 of the 93 registered institutes have obtained a fire department NOC. However, authorities are also scrutinising cases where institutes may have secured NOCs under the category of general commercial buildings rather than specifically as coaching centres.To complete the exercise, the fire department has constituted 10 teams tasked with inspecting all coaching institutes in the city within the next 10 days. SHOs have also been directed to assist in the verification process.Meanwhile, the PDA conducted inspections at several coaching institutes and sealed three prominent centres, including Khan Global Studies on Tej Bahadur Sapru Marg in Civil Lines, for failing to comply with prescribed building and operational standards.PDA Vice-Chairman Rishi Raj said the institutes were sealed for violating the authority’s norms. He added that a total of six coaching institutes have been sealed so far during the ongoing drive.Deputy Director of Electrical Safety Upendra Singh said electrical wiring and load capacity are examined before commercial buildings are granted power connections and are periodically reviewed thereafter. He noted that no major electrical safety violations have been detected at coaching institutes so far.A senior police officer said personnel from the Local Intelligence Unit (LIU) are compiling data on major coaching institutes, including student strength and whether they have obtained mandatory clearances from relevant departments. He admitted that hundreds of small and large coaching centres are operating across areas such as Civil Lines, Colonelganj, Georgetown, Dhoomanganj and Rajapur.With thousands of students arriving in Prayagraj every year from neighbouring districts, including Pratapgarh, Bhadohi, Kaushambi, Jaunpur, Fatehpur and Chitrakoot, authorities have intensified efforts to verify registration status, fire safety compliance and building approvals of coaching institutes operating in the city. PDA officials are also checking whether the buildings housing coaching centres have valid sanctioned maps and permissions for commercial use.
