About a week ago there was a pandemonium at Kursu Rajbagh in uptown Srinagar. The third floor of the main building of Muslim Public School was on fire. The people of the area had an emotional bond with the school as it was an alma mater to the children of the blue-collared workforce in the vicinity. The school had been running for four decades straight teaching lower-middle-class children on a no-profit no-loss basis. When this school was on fire it left a pall of gloom descending on the whole area. Every eye that had come to witness the blaze was moist and every hand raised skywards for prayers. This school was the heartbeat of the area and everyone was genuinely concerned about its top floor going up in flames. The school authorities in this case were prompt to evacuate all students safely in time and the chance of damage to human life was averted.
Just three days ago another school went up in flames in Kulgam district. Even though the fire tenders have managed to douse the flames in time preventing substantial damage to the building, the question about our children’s safety remains. The fire extinguishers which are among the mandatory due diligence amenities in any public building are missing in most school buildings or wherever present are in bad shape or totally dysfunctional.
These two incidents happened at the same time when a children’s hospital went up in flames in Uttar Pradesh leading to deaths of more than ten children. The incident in Uttar Pradesh has again raised serious questions about the security of patients and students at our hospitals and schools. The sight of seeing young children burning alive is enough to send shivers down anyone’s spine.
The registration of schools which do not have a fire escape and functioning fire extinguishers should be canceled as it is a critical matter regarding the security of our children. The government must undertake a thorough inspection of all government as well as private schools to ensure that they have the requisite infrastructure and gadgets in place. The government needs to be proactive here on top priority.
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