Seven years after a fire at a coaching centre operating in a shopping complex in Surat claimed 22 lives, the fire department has launched a drive to inspect schools and coaching centres in the textile hub following a similar tragedy at a coaching centre in Lucknow, where 15 people were killed on Monday.
Over 60 premises were inspected on Wednesday and notices were issued to educational institutions for failing to comply with fire safety rules.
On May 24, 2019, 22 students died of suffocation, burns or from jumping from the coaching centre after a fire broke out in the four-floor Takshashila Arcade in Sarthana area.
Textile businessman Dinesh Kevadiya lost his 17-year-old daughter, Yashvi, who was training in fine arts, in the tragedy. In December last year, Kevadiya filed a PIL in the Supreme Court seeking the Centre, National Disaster Management Authority, the ministries of home affairs, Health and Family Welfare, Road Transport and Highways, Housing and Urban Affairs, and Power to be made parties praying for directions to prevent fire accidents and road accidents across the country, where a daily lot of innocent people lose their lives.
Speaking to The Indian Express, Kevadiya said, “The void of my daughter, my Lakshmi (a term used for daughters compared to the Goddess of wealth) will not be filled. After her birth, my struggles ended and I made progress in my work, and later I started a textile business.”
He added, “In the PIL with the Supreme Court, I represented myself in Hindi. I told the court that, day by day, road accidents and fire incidents take place across the country, and innocent people die. After every such tragedy, a complaint will be filed and some low-ranking officials will be arrested and they too will be out on bail during the case proceedings. No higher authority will be made responsible for such incidents. Somebody should take responsibility for such incidents. Something should be done, or a national policy should be framed to prevent such incidents.”
Justice delayed
The trial in the 2019 fire tragedy case is still underway and of the total 14 arrested accused including builders, occupants, officials of fire department, Surat Municipal Corporation and Dakshin Gujarat Vij Company Limited officials, 13 are out on bail while one, an engineer, has died.
On Monday, under the leadership of the Chief Fire Officer of Surat Municipal Corporation, a meeting was held with the zonal heads (fire officials) of SMC’s 10 zones. A strategy has been made, and all the officials have been instructed to make sure that the fire safety norms are properly followed by the educational institutions across the city.
Acting on the plan, dozens of fire officials have since Wednesday inspected different schools, colleges and coaching centres across the city, in all zones.
Sources said that the fire officials also carried out an awareness drive to inform students and teachers about what to do when a fire breaks out, how to escape, and, if there is no way to escape, how to save lives.
Sources said that the fire officials had also issued notices to educational institutions whose fire safety equipment were not in working condition, telling them to get it repaired or replaced. Many coaching centres that lacked emergency exit were directed to address the issue as soon as possible.
The officials also checked the fire No Objection certificate and found that many educational institutions have not renewed it.
Surat Chief Fire Officer Basant Pareek said, “We have started a drive to check the fire safety in the education institutions after the Lucknow fire tragedy incident. The drive will take a couple of more days as such institutions are large in numbers. Dozens of fire officials are involved in such a drive.”
Jaysukh Gajera, a real estate businessman of Varachha area who lost his daughter Grishma, 22, has formed an NGO to fight the Takshashila Arcade fire case in the court. Every year on May 24, the parents of 22 students and several others gather at the spot in memory of the departed souls.
Talking to The Indian Express, Jaysukh Gajera said, “For the last six years, we have been fighting the case in the court. At present, the hearing of witnesses is done in the Surat District Sessions Court and the hearing of investigating police officials is left. The case is in the last stage. The authorities have arrested and accused lower-level staffers, while top officials who are actually responsible for the negligence in the Takshashila fire tragedy have been left off, and no actions were taken against them. Along with the Special Public Prosecutor, we have also appointed one more lawyer to fight the case. Seven years on, justice is not yet served to the victims….”
Over 60 premises were inspected on Wednesday and notices were issued to educational institutions for failing to comply with fire safety rules.
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