New Delhi, August 10, 2010 Press Release

Independence Day Advisory

Stay Safe; avoid flying kites near electric, distribution and transmission installations

• Metal and glass coated manjha can lead to trippings and even electrocution

• Delhiites advised against flying kites near electricity installations and overhead wires

• 44 kite related trippings in BSES area caused outages for long durations last year

• Tripping related outages can take anywhere between 15 minutes to 2 hours to rectify

It is that time of the year once again, when Indians – cutting across religions and regions – celebrate India’s independence by flying kites. Sometimes this otherwise innocuous activity can be hazardous, even fatal at times. The wide-spread use of metal coated manjha – being a good conductor of electricity – poses a great danger not only to the person flying the kite, but also poses a risk to the electricity supply of an area. Each year, there are several instances on both counts.

Even though, disrupting power supply and causing damage to power equipment is punishable under the Electricity Act and the Delhi Police Act, there seems to be little consideration shown for the law as well as power supply.

Dangers to the electricity system – The manjha used to fly kites contains metallic substances and in some cases, it is made of a thin metallic wire. When these metal coated manjha comes in contact with a live overhead wire, it causes trippings, resulting in blackout of the area fed by the affected line – a phenomenon witnessed each year.

Risk to life – Not just electrical equipment get affected, the risk to life is a bigger danger of reckless kite flying. Moreover, if the entagled manhja happens to be metal coated, it can even lead to electrocution of the ‘kite-flyer’.

“According to estimates, tripping of just one 33/66 KV overhead line can disrupt power supply to over 10,000 residents of an area. And a tripping of a single 11 KV line to over 2500 residents. And each year there are scores of such incidents in the city. Last year, there were 44 instance of kite-flying related in BSES’ (BRPL 32, BYPL 12) area,” said a BSES official.

“BRPL and BYPL have been educating RWA’s about the perils of flying kites near electricity installations and using metal coated manjhas. In the run-up to the Independence Day, BSES discoms have put their Operations and Maintenance teams on extra high alert to take care of any kite-flying related contingencies”, said a BSES official.

“Elders and parents are also requested to inform and counsel children not to enter prohibited/ barricaded electrical installations to retrieve kites because life is more precious than a mere 5-10 rupee kite”, added the official.

Reiterating the need to be cautious while flying kites, a BSES spokesperson said “People should celebrate the Independence Day. But they should do it responsibly. Residents are advised not to fly kites near electricity installations, including overhead cables and certainly not use metal / metal coated manjhas. These two simple mantras will ensure safe I-Day celebrations. Any carelessness can lead to a major power failure, blackout and even electrocution”

BRPL and BYPL, Delhi’s premier power distribution companies are committed to ensuring quality and reliable electricity supply to all their consumers.

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For further information please contact:

Prashant Dua	Chandra P Kamat
Corporate Communications	Corporate Communications
39999870 / 9312007822	39999642/9350130304