The Tamil Nadu Electricity Regulatory Commission (TNERC) should make Residual Current Device (RCD)/Earth Leakage Circuit Breaker (ELCB) mandatory in gated communities and apartments, said K. Kathirmathiyon, secretary of Coimbatore Consumer Cause.
Two children, aged eight and four, died of electrocution at Raman Vihar, a gated community in Coimbatore, on Thursday.
Mr. Kathirmathiyon said all residential building that have common electricity connections should be asked to instal RCCB to avoid electrocution. Though installation of RCD/ELCB is mandatory for new connections, it is not so for old service connections. This is not the first such fatal electrical accident in Coimbatore. Circuit breakers should be installed to ensure safety of the residents. Otherwise, the office-bearers of the respective apartment or gated community resident welfare association should be held responsible, he said.
The public should instal the circuit breakers at their houses for their safety and should not heed to advices that circuit breakers are not necessary, he added.
A.D. Thirumoorthy, a former official of the Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation (Tangedco), said the Tangedco should hold meetings and awareness workshops for gated communities and apartments and ask them to instal safety devices. The Tangedco should ensure the RCD/ELCB are installed and are in workable condition in such buildings, at least before the rainy season.
An official of the Tangedco said it was conducting several programmes urging the public to be cautious during rainy season and to instal safety gadgets. Even if an electricity cable is underground, if it is damaged and exposed to the ground and electricity passes through it, it is dangerous. Hence, such cables should be removed, the official said.
