Alliance agrees to ease fire norms

Hyderabad: In an action that could expose students to danger, the KG to PG Joint Action Committee (JAC) has demanded that the Mahakutami provide some relaxations in fire safety regulations to the private schools and colleges. The JAC also wanted the norms making mandatory the fire department’s no-objection certificate to be eased. Surprisingly, the Mahakutami agreed to the demand and said that the norms will be eased soon after their government is formed.

Apart from fire norms, a majority of the JAC members want the relaxation on the set back space that should be left around the institution for free ventilation; the space will help fire fighters to move around the structure during fire accidents.

As most of the schools and colleges were set up in leased buildings, the managements are finding it difficult to get the NOC from the fire department. “We will work towards providing some relaxations in getting the NOC from fire department,” said TPCC president N. Uttam Kumar Reddy.

In reply to a query, JAC chairman G. Ramana Reddy said, “We are facing trouble in getting affiliations as there is no set back space around the structures. Many hotels, apartments and other commercial units don’t have this. We are demanding that this should be implemented for new institutions, by exempting the old structures.”

 We are ready to install the fire fighting equipment that will help controlling the fire to avoid maximum damage."

An official from fire department on condition of anonymity said, "The setback space is kept for free ventilation for the structure. During the fire accidents the difficulty is to clear the acrid smoke if there is no proper ventilation. The humans present in the buildings will first get smothered with the acrid smoke. These setbacks will also help the fire fighters to freely move around the building and can find an easy way to enter the building and to fight the fire. Relaxing these norms is nothing but exposing the lives to danger."