Delhi’s Coaching Centres: Disaster in Waiting

"Have we come here to get martyred?," this was the first response of the students on being questioned about fire safety measures at one of the class rooms run by Drishti The Vision Foundation, a prominent civil services coaching institute in Mukherjee Nagar in Delhi. Jai Prakash, hailing from Buxar district who is attending coaching classes at the institute, said, "Approximately 15,000 students attend classes daily but no safety measures are in place to prevent any mishap in the building."

Joining the conversation, Kanishka, another student at the coaching centre, said, "When a class concludes, it takes fifteen minutes for the students to get out, how do you think successful evacuation of students can be done? When I first attended the class, it was suffocating for us to even sit in the class. From the time I attended my classes, the institute has grown beyond imagination but still there is no focus on the fire safety arrangements or lives of the students. The owners are only interested in minting money."

The complaints of the students poured in when NewsClick visited the Mukherjee Nagar area, the hub of coaching institutes in the national capital to assess their preparedness in tackling incidents like the one in Surat where 20 students lost their lives in a fire at a coaching centre. From narrow stairs, inadequate fire extinguishers to the negligence of civic authorities, it clearly appears that the area may soon be witness to a tragedy orchestrated by the collective failure of coaching institutes, fire department and civic authorities.

Also read: 18 Children Killed in Surat Coaching Centre Blaze

Such infrastructural failure was also visible in the incident of death of 17 persons at a hotel in Karol Bagh which also hosts a number of coaching institutes for civil services, chartered accountancy, law and banking. The reason for rising number of coaching institutions in the national capital can be attributed to several facts. First, these institutions do not need any trade license. Second, they are allowed to operate in residential areas subject to the conditions of Delhi Master Plan 2021. Chapter 15 of the master plan allows three kind of commercial activities in residential areas including retail shops, professional activities like doctors, lawyers and other activities including pathological labs and coaching services.

Coaching centres operate classes in extended structures of buildings which can prove to be disastrous during fire or other such mishaps.

Rakesh showed some temporary cabins built at the Vardhaman complex in the area. He said, "If you closely observe, you can see that the cabins are made from wood and other plastic materials. When we talk about Surat fire, it was widely reported that many students lost their lives after they jumped from the building. Similar situation would emerge again if any incident takes place. Forget fire, are they not familiar with the fact that this area falls in zone 5 where the risks of earthquakes are highest, and yet this criminal negligence?”

When NewsClick visited the temporary cabins, the sheer size of the class was astonishing. One of the employees told us that at least 600 students can be seated at a time in these cabins. There were also only a few fire extinguishers hanging on the walls. The NewsClick team also visited another prominent institute Alternative Learning Systems or ALS in the basement of the Vardhaman complex. The size of the class was enormous there. The water sprinklers were sealed. On being asked about fire extinguishers, an employee confirmed that he does not know how to operate them.

Sealed water sprinklers

However, the charges were denied by Neelabh Singh, director at the institute. He said, "We have placed fire extinguishing cylinders of 4 and 6 kilograms in the class rooms. Apart from this, we have put fireball extinguishers." When asked about the blocked water sprinklers, he blamed the mall authorities for it. Attempts to reach Ajay Karakoti, Chief Executive Officer at Drishti, did not yield any results.

Also read: Arpit Hotel Fire a Grim Reminder of Rampant Flouting of Fire Safety Norms

In response to the recent incidents of fire hazards, the Delhi government on Monday, May 27, has ordered the fire department to immediately shut all coaching centres in the city operating above fourth floor excluding stilt floors. An order issued by Satyender Jain, Delhi Home Minister, stated, "As a precautionary step, such coaching centres operating in high-rise buildings (more than four floors, excluding stilt floor) shall be inspected by the director (DFS) and shall take action for closing down coaching institutes operating above the fourth floor in such buildings." However, students like Rakesh who would have to pay a price for years of negligence, said, “Kya kare sir, dar to lagta hai par padhna to hai hi. (What can we do sir, we are scared but we have to study)."