India, Feb. 12 -- LUCKNOW At least 17 coaching institutes in Lucknow continue to operate with inadequate fire safety arrangements, putting lives of students at risk, despite several notices issued to them in this regard and the chief fire officer (CFO) seeking cancellation of their licences for violation of norms, revealed an audit report released by the fire department.

On Tuesday, HT did a reality check of a few prominent institutes in the city's coaching hub, Aliganj, and found that majority of them were running with single entry/exit in buildings where thousands of students, in separate batches, come to prepare for JEE, UPSC, and other competitive/entrance exams.

The team first visited Gravity Coaching Centre in Kapoorthala, where o...