Rajkot civic body to install firefighting equipment at 36 municipal schools

With the proposal approved, 26 schools will get new systems, while 10 will get an upgrade to their existing ones. The remaining 57 schools do not require fire NOCs, said civic officers.

The proposal stated that the 10 municipal schools have buildings taller than nine metres and had obtained fire-NOCs from RMC in 2021-22 after installing fire-safety systems. “However, as some of the equipment in them (the systems) are non-functional, their fire safety NOCs have not been renewed,” the proposal stated, adding new equipment worth around Rs 9 lakh will be required to be installed for getting fire-NOC of these schools renewed.

In the aftermath of TRP fire, civic bodies across the state were carrying out safety drives at public places, schools and offices. RMC sealed dozens of private schools in the city for alleged violation of fire-safety and building construction norms.

However, no RMC-run school has been sealed so far. ““Many of our school buildings have playgrounds and large front and backyards. Therefore, students from such buildings can be evacuated immediately in case of a fire,” said Rajkot Municipal School Board Chairman Vikram Pujara. He added that the board has applied for fire NOCs.