Karnataka - Bangalore   

Govt. begins steps to avert fire tragedies

By Our Special Correspondent

A school in Bangalore with just one gate raises questions about the safety of students in case of fire and other accidents. — Photo: Sampath Kumar G.P.

BANGALORE, JULY 19. Following the Kumbakonam school fire tragedy, the State Government has directed that the kitchens for cooking midday meals for schoolchildren in the State under the Akshara Dasoha programme should be located at a distance from the institutions.

The directive was issued today by the Chief Minister, N. Dharam Singh, to the deputy commissioners of the districts, the superintendents of police and the district education officers.

The Chief Minister also ordered an inspection of the electrical wiring and installations in all schools. Mr. Dharam Singh has mourned the death of children at Kumbakonam.

Our Staff Reporters write:

The tragic Kumbakonam school episode has brought to light the stark reality about the lack of adequate safety measures in schools and how vulnerable children are to such disasters. Many schools here are not well ventilated and are multi-storeyed with only one exit. In a few primary schools where midday meals are prepared on the campus, LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) cylinders are kept in the classrooms.

According to official sources, most schools do not have fire extinguishers. In some government schools, mostly in rural areas, meals are cooked in makeshift kitchens which have thatched roofs. Officials from the Department of Public Instruction said it had been suggested to the higher authorities that the midday meal scheme be segregated from the activities of the school and that of the education officials. "Learning from Kumbakonam, we are planning to introduce new safety guidelines for schools, which may include fire extinguishers," Abdul Wajid, Deputy Director for Public Instruction, Bangalore North, told The Hindu .

Fire force move

The Deputy Inspector-General of Police (Fire Services) T. Suneel Kumar said that following the Kumbakonam tragedy, the Fire Services Department had asked its officials all over the State to identify educational institutions in their jurisdictions which were vulnerable to fire tragedies.

Mr. Kumar told The Hindu on Monday that fire station officers and district fire officers had been directed to inspect the educational institutions in their respective jurisdictions and submit reports to their respective district administration. The 113 fire stations in the State were well equipped to handle fire accidents round the clock, he added. Mr. Kumar said the department, through the Students' Association for Fire Education (SAFE), was creating awareness among children about fire mishaps. Students were trained how to react during a fire, he added.

BMP claim

The Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BMP), which runs 78 shishuvihars, 11 primary schools, 33 high schools and 12 pre-university colleges, claims to have adopted the required fire safety measures in all its schools to avoid accidents.

"The midday meal scheme in these schools is executed by the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) and cooked food is supplied to the students. So we do not have kitchens or LPG cylinders on our school premises," officials in the BMP's Education Department said. "While all the 78 shishuvihars are on the ground floor, only some schools are multi-storeyed. All of them are provided with double staircases except the Dispensary Road Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BMP) Junior College, which also houses a high school. This school is crammed and has a single staircase which might cause difficulties for easy exit of students during accidents," a former member of the Standing Committee on Education B.N.Mangala said.

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