Monday’s fire in a private school bus here appears to have come as a wake-up call to the departments concerned, which are expected to tighten the norms to ensure safety of children travelling in school buses.
For the managements of private schools, the incident in which over 50 children and four teachers had a miraculous escape, should serve as an eye-opener.
“If the driver had proper knowledge on the operation of the portable fire extinguisher equipped in the bus, the fire could have been doused immediately with minimal damage to the bus,” said district fire officer K.P. Gururaj.
He told The Hindu that the Department of Fire and Emergency Services provides a two-day training on the first steps to be taken in case of a fire, including the operation of portable fire extinguishers.
“The fire extinguishers in the buses are supposed to be checked once a year by the department. Physical checks are mandatory … but not all of them follow it,” he said.
Disclosing that a series of guidelines had been issued for the schools post the Kumbakonam fire tragedy in Tamil Nadu in a school, Mr. Gururaj said it is mandatory for the schools to get the Fire Advice Certificate issued by the respective fire departments in their respective States. The certificate is issued after checking the fire extinguishers; training; and education on fire hazards and precautionary measures to be taken. “All these measures are supposed to be implemented and the fee for issuing the certificate is Rs. 10,000,” he said. He said some private schools have availed the certificate but many have not except for applying for the certificate and forgetting it later.
Mr. Gururaj said the schools are supposed to take a NoC from the Fire Department and the Mysore City Corporation should insist on that while giving its nod for the building plan. But many of them ignore the rule. “It becomes difficult to enforce the norm after the construction of the building and occupancy,” he said.
