Absence of fire escape routes found in safety inspections at tuition centres in Chandigarh.

Chandigarh: A surprise fire inspection on Friday exposed widespread safety hazards and inadequate escape routes at multiple coaching centres.The action starts a major safety blitz across the city’s education hubs.

Teams led by chief fire officer Inderjit Singh raided high-occupancy tuition complexes in Sectors 24 and 25 on the first day, discovering severe lapses in fire prevention systems, emergency infrastructure, and life-safety compliance.Management at the offending institutes received rectification orders along with warning of forced closures and prosecutions if they didn’t resolve the hazards urgently. Given the high density of students packed into these commercial coaching centres daily, municipal officials said infrastructure neglect placed thousands of young lives at risk.The chief fire officer said: “The centres that witness high student occupancy must maintain robust fire safety infrastructure and emergency response systems at all times. Negligence in fire safety compliance poses a serious risk to human life and will invite strict action.”Citywide Audits FormulatedThe Sector 24 and 25 raids mark the beginning of a coordinated, citywide crackdown. Station fire officers from all seven regional fire stations are under orders to compile registries of all educational and coaching institutions within their jurisdictions.

While the initial batch of non-compliant centres have been granted a grace period to install mandatory safety equipment and correct architectural anomalies, municipal authorities confirmed that comprehensive, unannounced audits will expand across the city next week.