Coaching institutes operating illegally from basements in Indore will be closed: Collector

NEW DELHI: Coaching institutes and libraries functioning illegally from basements in Indore will be shut down and FIRs will be registered against their operators, a move aimed at averting any potential Delhi basement-like tragedy. Indore administration has sealed more than 15 coaching institutes and libraries functioning from basements of buildings, a senior official said.

"Taking a cue from the Delhi incident wherein three Civil services aspirants drowned in a basement, we are conducting a detailed inspection of coaching institutes and libraries being operated from basements in Indore," district collector Ashish Singh told reporters. He said those coaching institutes operating in basements without proper security arrangements are being sealed.

Action against illegal facilities

"We found during the inspection that walls and ceilings of some institutes are made up of plywood. Instances of (coaching) classes being conducted under tin sheds have also come to our notice. Such structures are extremely unsafe for students," Singh said. Illegal constructions in these study institutes will be removed and FIRs will be lodged against their operators, he said.

A member of the administration's investigation team, meanwhile, said most of the sealed institutes had only one access and didn't install fire safety equipment. Three civil service aspirants died after flood water gushed in the basement of an IAS coaching centre in Delhi's Old Rajinder Nagar area on July 27 after heavy rainfall.