After Surat incident, Delhi Fire Department to conduct safety audit

Delhi Fire service is planning to conduct an audit of all coaching institutes running in national capital from Monday to avert Surat-like fire trdy in which at least 22 students died, officials said.

However, small coaching institutes, which are functioning in buildings below 15 metres, do t come directly under fire department's jurisdiction, a senior official.

"Small coaching institutes do t come directly under our jurisdiction, but still we will start from Monday inspections of coaching institutes which are functioning in buildings above 15 metres and facts will be checked wher y have applied for license and if t, tice will be issued against m," Delhi chief Fire officer Atul Garg said.

process has been initiated and department will issue a public tice soon and buildings which are found to be violating rms will be checked, a senior fire officer said.

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It will take some time, but department will t spare those who are found to be flouting rms and appropriate action will be taken against m, officer said.

" fire department called a meeting on Saturday of all senior officers to discuss issue and department is searching how to deal with small coaching institutes, and if required, we will approach government as well," he said.

" Delhi Fire Department is prepared for any trdy like Surat. As far as preparedness is concerned, department is rey to tackle any trdy and Delhi is much more safer," Mr Garg said.

"On Thursday, department rescued 30 people safely after a major fire broke out on fifth floor of a building in Nehru Place here. casualties were reported in incident, he said.

A senior SDMC official, when contacted, said, "Municipal authorities are t authorised to issue fire licence for any building."

"Wher a building is large or small, we just clear building plans. process to apply for plan clearance is online and applicants have to submit fire safety C within a stipulated time, orwise application is deemed incomplete and hence rejected," he said.

Earlier on Friday, a massive fire covered a four-storey commercial complex in Gujarat's Surat on Friday, killing at least 22 teen students at a coaching centre, many of whom jumped and fell to ir deaths while some were suffocated, officials said.

In a video clip of incident, some young students at Takshashila Complex in Sarthana area, where building is located, can be seen jumping off third and fourth floors amid plumes of thick smoke.