Gandhinagar: A preliminary probe into the causes of devastating fire in Surat at a coaching class which claimed lives of 22 students last week has highlighted various lapses on part of officials of the local municipal corporation as well as the builders.
The probe also found that the structure where the coaching class was operated was prone to fire incidents. It had low ceilings, and tyres were used for sitting in place of chairs. The builders had hidden the fact that they had added fourth floor to the three-storey Takshashila Complex while seeking regularisation of the structure in 2013 by paying ‘impact fee’.
According to a top bureaucrat, the officials concerned did not conduct a physical inspection of the building before approving the proposal of the builder. The fire was triggered by a spark in the compressor of the air conditioner fixed between the first and second floors of the Takshashila Complex last Friday, and spread through a vertical display panel to the top floor with a dome structure where the coaching centre was located, as per a preliminary report submitted by Urban Development Department Principal Secretary Mukesh Puri to the state government Monday.
He said access to an RCC staircase connecting the fourth floor to the lower floor was blocked due to which the students could not escape out of the building.
“Another escape route through an iron staircase could not be accessed due to fire,” he said. Puri said three officials have been suspended for various lapses. They are identified as SK Acharya and Krti Mod, both with fire department in Surat Municipal Corporation, and deputy engineer V K Parmar.
“In 2013, four owners of the complex had applied for regularisation of structure by paying impact fee. Their application was approved in 2015. It is learnt now that they had applied for approval of a building with only three floors, and with no mention of a fourth floor. The responsible engineer did not conduct physical inspection of the building. Declaration by the builders was false, approval by the engineers was wrong. Officials who carried out survey for impact fee for the building and approved it without conducting physical verification are also responsible,” Puri stated.
Puri said the findings are a result of a three-day investigation and a detailed investigation will continue further in the case. He said Surat has two vehicles with hydraulic ladders but one of these arrived 45 minutes after the fire erupted and was of not much use.
Police have so far arrested three persons, namely Harshul Vekaria, Jignesh Paghdal, and Bhargav Butani. While Vekaria is the builder, Paghdal used to handle the overall management of the complex and Butani is the owner of the coaching class.
| MISHAP IN NEW DELHI |
| A fire broke out at a bulb manufacturing unit in Udyog Nagar in west Delhi on Tuesday, the Delhi Fire Service (DFS) said. No casualty has been reported. The fire department said they received a call about the blaze at 5.15 am following which 22 fire tenders were rushed to the spot. The fire broke out on the ground floor and spread to two floors above. The factory also manufactures spare parts, a senior fire officer said. The fire officer said they brought the flames under control by 8.35 am. A short circuit is suspected to be the cause of the fire, the official said. |