Govt-run educational institutes in Berhampur lack safety

The government-run educational institutes in and around the silk city seem vulnerable to fire mishaps as most of them lack safety measures, an official said.
The 51-year-old Berhampur University (BU) and the over century-old Khallikote College, two major educational institutes in south Odisha, lack fire safety measures.
"We have not given fire safety certificate to any educational institute in Berhampur for some years now," Range Fire Officer, Berhampur, Bhabagrahi Ghadei said.
Berhampur University Vice-chancellor Raj Kishore Das admitted lack of fire safety measures in the main administrative building.
"We'll take appropriate fire safety measures in the university buildings," said Das.

Manmath Padhy, vice-chancellor of Khallikote Cluster University echoed similar statements.
The Khallikote autonomous college, one of the constituent colleges in the newly formed Khallikote Cluster University, also lacks fire safety measures. While around 2,500 students and employees are in BU, around 5,000 students and employees are there in Cluster University. Both the universities have a number of multi-storied buildings from where classes and offices operate.
A devastating fire in private Sum Hospital in the state capital on October 17 evening has so far claimed at least 24 lives, officials said.