KARACHI, July 13: KESC customers and people at large have been advised for protecting themselves and their families from electrical accidents and electrocution especially during rains. A KESC spokesman here on Wednesday reminded people about precautionary measures which, he said, must be followed in order to save themselves from any unfortunate happening during coming monsoon rains.

Following are the safety measures notified by the KESC:

* In case of wire snapping, the nearest KESC centre or 118 be immediately informed by phone or at the centre-window. The broken wire may be live and may cause fatal accident if the complaint centre is not timely informed.

* Keep away from a broken wire.

* Not to use kunda connection during rains.

* Keep away from electricity installations like poles, PMTs and sub-stations.

* Local generator users should install them separate from KESC-line. Some generator sers hook their generators on the KESC neutral wire, which becomes dangerous for the KESC staff working on the line in case of power failure.

* Keep away from water accumulated during rains around electrical poles or other installations.

* Local switches on the poles for streetlight should not be touched during rains.

* In case, one phase is off do not jump over to the other phase.

The spokesman said past history suggests that higher rate of fatal accidents during rains occurred in kunda-infested areas and amongst the illegal connection users. Hence, he said it was important that people should remove these illegal connections for their own safety before the rain starts.

He said that KESC had also undertaken tree pruning drive in areas where it was disturbing the overhead power supply lines.

Public has also been requested that trees inside or outside their homes should be properly clipped so that the tree branches are not touching the electricity wires. During rains wet trees also become good-conductors and a cause of electrocution.

He advised that pets, goats or cows should not be chained with an electrical pole. Some people are also in the habit of tying their cycles and motorcycles with electrical poles which should be avoided during the rains.

Television cable operators were warned not to climb a pole for correcting their cable-line mostly running on electric poles during the rains.—APP