JAIPUR, Rajasthan: After the deaths of three civil service aspirants in the basement of Rau’s IAS Circle, the Rajasthan government has swung into action to streamline coaching institutes running in the state. The government has told these institutions to obtain fire NOCs within the next 15 days, or else they will be sealed.
In this regard, the Directorate of Local Bodies has served notice to the coaching institutions and cautioned that failing to meet these directives will result in stringent action. After 15 days, the coaching institutes that will not have the fire NOC will be sealed.
Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma also warned of stern action against those individuals who failed to comply with these rules. CM posted this on his X (formerly known as Twitter) account.
The motive behind this move is that to obtain the fire NOC, these institutes will have to improve their building premises to meet the eligibility criteria, specifically regarding the basement. The guidelines regarding the usage of basements in multi-story buildings have been mentioned in the Building Regulations 2020.
As per the regulations, in any multi-story building, the basement should be accessible from the higher floors with the main and alternative stairs. Similarly, the basement being used for institutional and commercial purposes should have multiple exit points through the lower ground floor and basement. The exit routes should be made in such a way as to ensure that one doesn’t have to walk more than 22.5 metres to reach them. Other than that, proper fire-fighting systems should also be in place.
There are detailed guidelines on how a basement should be used. It is said that it cannot be used to store flammable substances or any other thing or activity that endangers the lives of people residing in the building.
If the basement is used for institutional purposes, such as coaching centres and libraries, they should be inspected regularly. Additionally, it should be ensured that there are sufficient provisions for ventilation, drainage, and exit gates.
It is said that there are more than 150 coaching institutes in the Jaipur Municipal Corporation area, including Gopalpura Bypass, Tonk Phatak, Pratap Nagar, and Malviya Nagar. Most of these institutes neither have firefighting systems nor a fire NOC.