BMC to audit fire safety in its schools

In the backdrop of recent fire incidents in the city, BMC's Education Department is going to ensure that all its 1,195 schools are fire compliant before February 15. At the meeting of the Education Committee, which was held on Monday, several corporators took up the issue of fire safety in schools run by the corporation.

Responding to their concerns, Shubhada Gudhekar, Chairperson of the Education Committee, said, "We are working with schools to ensure that the fire safety equipment in schools is in working condition and that fire audits are done in schools. We will ensure that all the schools comply to the same before February 15."

Sainath Durge, Member of BMC's Education Committee, suggested that the corporation should work on the overall safety of children in all its schools including the installation of CCTV cameras, background checks of all employees and structural audits of buildings. "Apart from fire audits all the other safety compliance should be made as well to ensure that students are not at any risk," said Durge.

Durge also took up the issue of pending renewals for the registrations of 150 private schools that come under the BMC's jurisdiction. "The renewals have been pending for a long time now. It is high time that the corporation streamlines the process" he added.