It took the death of over 90 children in a small school at Kumbakonam village, Tamil Nadu, for the Centre to make fire audits compulsory across all educational institutes in the country. The tragedy occurred after children were trapped inside a thatched roof dining hall that caught fire in 2004.

Closer home, the 2012 fire at Mantralaya once again brought attention to the need to conduct fire safety drills and teach students how to tackle emergency situations. Almost three years later, schools are still waiting for the education department to issue a circular for the same. To make matters worse, a workshop on disaster management that was mandatory for all the schools until a few years ago, lacks mention in the current agenda.