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Supreme Court seeks reply on fire safety in schools
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NewsByte on 28 March, 2008 02:12:00
 
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday granted six weeks' time to the centre
and states to file their response on suggestions made by the amicus curiae
(court officer) to prevent fire mishaps in schools. Senior counsel and amicus
curiae Colin Gonzalves, who was appointed by the apex court in 2007, suggested a
series of measures to avoid such mishaps. The apex court had appointed him to
assist it following a petition filed by Avinash Mehrotra who sought the court's
intervention for putting in place fire safety measures in schools after the 2004
Kumbakonam school fire tragedy in Tamil Nadu which left 83 children dead. On
July 16, 2004 the fire broke out in a government-aided but privately managed
Saraswathi Nursery School in Kumbakonam town of Tamil Nadu's Thanjavur district.
The fire was suspected to have started from the kitchen where the meal for
nursery children was being prepared. The blaze rapidly spread to five classrooms
on the third floor of the school's premises claiming 83 lives. Among the
children who died in the mishap 20 were charred to death beyond recognition.
Subsequent inquiries revealed that the school had not taken fire safety measures
which could have averted the incident. (PTI)