Coaching centres flout norms, put lives at stake

Ameerpet: Fresh revelations on the training institutes state that 70% are run out of residential buildings without any fire safety measures. According to the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) study on the state of the buildings it was found that the coaching centres have come up in several areas that are not suited to be run as educational institutes.

The buildings lack proper exits, students sit in cramped rooms, fire NOC is not obtained and not more than one person can climb or alight down the stairs.

After 22 students were killed in a fire incident at a coaching centre in Surat in Gujarat in the month of May, the GHMC officials inspected coaching centers in Ameerpet, Kukatpally, Ashok Nagar and Dilsukh Nagar.

Speaking to the The Hans India, Viswajit Kampati, Director of Enforcement, Vigilance and Disaster Management GHMC said, "We served notices to 671 coaching centers and other training institutes that did not produce the mandatory No Objection Certificate (NOC). Tilldate, we seized 225 institutes and some have written a letter to us expressing willingness to comply with fire regulations and we are scrutinizing their letters."

The GHMC is still making a note of the coaching centres and according to rough estimates, there may be close to 1,000 coaching centres that do not have fire NOC.

In the latest drive, the institutes sealed were located on stretches of Mehdipatnam to Gachibowli, Kukatpally to Kukatpally Housing Board colony and Ashok Nagar to RTC cross roads.

Along with this operation, GHMC instructed these coaching centers to remove their banners and flexis that hung in thousands across the city.