New Delhi, Jul 26 (PTI) Nearly 900 notices have been served on violators and four coaching centres sealed in light of a court order directing the city authorities to close down all such centres operating without a no-objection certificate from the fire services department.
Besides, coaching centres in 98 such cases have “vacated the premises” they were housed in, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) said on Wednesday.
The Delhi High Court on Tuesday had directed the city authorities to close down all coaching centres operating without an NOC from the fire services department.
A bench headed by Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma observed that “fire safety is a must” and all coaching centres are under an obligation to comply with their statutory requirements under the Master Plan of Delhi, 2021 (MPD 2021), and other applicable regulations.
“The MCD is proactively working in this direction and the progress report could be shared after few days. Up till now, a total of 897 notices has been served on those coaching centres which were found operating in violation of MPD 2021,” the MCD said in a statement in response to a query on the action taken in view of the court’s direction.
Also, “four coaching centres have been sealed, and coaching centres, in 98 such cases, have vacated the premises” they were operating in, it said.
Major coaching hubs of Delhi are located at Mukherjee Nagar in northwest Delhi; Katwaria Sarai, Jia Sarai, Ber Sarai in south Delhi, and Laxmi Nagar and Mayur Vihar in east Delhi.
In a status report filed in the matter, the Delhi Police had informed the court that of the 583 coaching institutes running in the national capital, only 67 have NOCs from the Delhi Fire Services.
“If a coaching centre is not conforming with the master plan provisions, it is to be shut down. There is no other alternative,” the bench, also comprising Justice Saurabh Banerjee, said.
“Respondents (MCD and Delhi government) are directed to close down coaching centres which do not have fire NOC,” the court ordered.
The court asked the police, the fire services department and other authorities to provide all logistical support to the MCD to comply with the order. According to the written order, it is to be done within 60 days.
If there are structures other than coaching centres that are not complying, the MCD shall take action, the court had added.
While the court asked the Delhi government lawyer to “close” such institutes, he responded that the fire services department does not have the power to do so and added that the action has to be taken by the MCD.
The MCD’s counsel said action has been taken and even sealing orders issued to those in violation of the regulations.
The Delhi government lawyer had submitted that some time may be given to coaching centres to obtain fire certificates as their closure can hamper the academic interests of the students.
The court directed that the matter be listed for hearing on October 10.
On June 16, the high court took cognisance of a fire at a coaching institute in Mukherjee Nagar the previous day.
Taking note of a news report that showed students of the institute smashing windows and climbing down ropes in a desperate attempt to escape, the high court had asked the local authorities to file a status report.
Arjun Singh, 22, who has been preparing for SSC exams for the last four years, said, “I was there when the fire broke out in Mukherjee Nagar. I saw how students came out of the building, many got injured too. It is the responsibility of a coaching institute management to take care of all these safety measures. All institutes should get an NOC from fire services because we never know what the future has in store for us”.
He said online classes are “not sufficient” as physical classes are needed to clear doubts. PTI KND COR CK
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