Allow new coaching centres only if they comply with fire safety norms: HC to MCD

The Delhi high court has recently directed the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) to allow the opening and operation of new coaching centers in Mukherjee Nagar only if they are compliant with building and fire safety norms as laid down in the Master Plan of Delhi (MPD), 2021. MPD 2021 permits coaching centers to function but mandates them to comply with the minimum area requirements, follow regularised construction and structural norms and also obtain the fire department’s no-objection certificate (NOC). In an order, dated January 15 and made public on Friday, a bench led by Justice Yashwant Varma has directed MCD and Delhi fire services to expand the team of officials in order to assist the four-member group of the joint task force for inspecting the coaching centers in Mukherjee Nagar to ensure continuous compliance of laws. The court was considering a plea wherein it had taken suo motu cognizance of the fire that had broken out in a coaching centre in north Delhi’s Mukherjee Nagar area in June last year.On July 25, the high court directed MCD to close the institutes that were operating without any NOC from the fire department.