Usage of standardised electrical equipment, how to check if they are standardised, proper electrical design and periodical testing are the ways to ensure that fires do not occur, said a group of eminent panelists at a meet related to electrical safety. They were talking at 'Atmanirbhar Suraksha: Electrical Safety is Non Negotiable' social sanchar held at the Royal Bombay Yacht Club, Colaba on Friday.
The meet was attended by panelists Rajeev Sharma, deputy director general, Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), S Gopa Kumar, president, National Federation of Engineers for Electrical Safety (NFEES), S S Warick, director, Maharashtra Fire Service, Hemant Sali, Technical Advisor to Ministry of Roads Highway and Transport and special invitee, Ajit Kumar Jain, former state information commissioner. Chief guest Praveen Pardeshi, chief executive officer, Maharashtra Institute for Transformation and Member Administration at Capacity Building Commission, Government of India. The meet was organised by Together VCan, a body that looks to bridge the dialogue between citizens and government.
The meet was a follow up of earlier meetings that looked to create awareness on the issue of electrical safety and citizen's responsibility to avoid similar accidents. "After the Kamala Mills fire accident, the government set up a group on fire safety. One of the root causes of most fires was electrical short circuits," said Jain. Overloading the system with equipment, understanding implications in case sub-standard material is used and how citizens distinguish between standardised products and non-standardised ones was discussed.
The meet, moderated by Gopa, was largely question and answer based with demonstration showing reliability of electrical equipment available in the open market. "People should take only standardised products. We have also made an app where in details of the product can be put to check if they are standardised," said Sharma. On questions of protective devices not tripping in case of overload that lead to short-circuit, Sali said faulty design was the reason. "If the design of electrical wiring is not proper, this will happen. There are instances where wire, installation on wire, plug and socket board are not proper. We have sneen plug and socket of different amperes being used," said Sali.
Speakers said equipment with schuko plugs prevalent in Germany or those in England were being used that were not appropriate. Even usage of adaptors was discouraged.
In 98 % of the cases, said speakers, wirings were not compliant to the national standard and in most buildings, substandard products were used to cut cost. From house wiring to panel board wiring, things often changed to adjust cost. Speakers said that protective devices that are combinations of both MCB and RCD should be used. Warick said right from development to planning, designing, implementation and life cycle of wires needed to be audited and awareness needed to be created on fire as most fires were due to short circuits.
Saili said that certification could be added before the Fire department gave NOC and a self-declaration could be considered where the responsibility of installation lay on the person installing the electrical system. Speakers said that audits needed to be done from certified people so that fire did not occur.
"The idea of the meeting was to ask what stops us from being careful. it is our own safety and there should not be any compromise on this issue," said Indrani Malani, chairperson of the VCan. V Ranganathan, former chief secretary of Maharashtra and trustee, VCan said, "The idea is to highlight points for policy level and implementation level."
