Institute closes gates to evade PDA, fire dept action

Prayagraj: A joint team of Prayagraj Development Authority (PDA), and fire department had to face a piquant situation after the authorities of a computer training centre and para medical institute on Stanley road locked the gates to evade action on the second day of the ongoing fire safety crackdown on Wednesday.The PDA and fire officials had to wait outside the institute for around an hour while the students and staff were trapped inside the building. Later, Civil Lines police arrived at the site and made the institute authorities open the gates. The building was sealed for failing to produce the relevant documents.Chief fire officer (Prayagraj) Chandra Mohan told TOI that the institute authorities locked the gate after noticing the firemen and PDA team. “We stood outside the institute for an hour before local police arrived at the site and managed to open the gate,”The fire department team arrived at the site on a routine checking but the institute locked the gates.

A computer training centre was being operated at basement while two separate para medical institutes were also functioning on ground and first floors.Meanwhile, the teams checked 20 coaching centres in the city, trans-Ganga and Yamuna pockets of the district to check the status of fire fighting equipment and documentation. The institutes were issued strict warnings to complete the norms and update the fire fighting equipments within a fortnight or the centres would be sealed.

Till now, fire department had checked more than 43 coaching institutes in the district and issued warning and guidelines accordingly.Ironically, majority of coaching centres in Allenganj, Civil Lines, Rajapur, Tagore Town, Georgetown, Allahapur and other areas locked their institutes after witnessing the action by PDA and fire department officials. Many centres have even removed their boards and banners to evade the action.Only 16 out of the 93 registered coaching centres in city were found to have a valid fire department’s no objection certificate. A prominent coaching at Civil Lines has deputed its fire official at the premises and installed advanced fire fighting arrangements.