OREANDA-NEWS. Tata Power, India's largest integrated power player, has been undertaking initiatives to spread awareness on safety as part of its 'Jan Jagruti Abhiyaan' programme. In line with the company's values of 'I trust and care', Tata Power conducted 'electrical safety at home' and 'hazards of flying kites' programmes, to increase safety awareness among people who fly kites around high-voltage transmission lines.

As kite strings conduct electricity, when they come in contact with transmission lines they allow high-voltage current to pass through them. This in turn can pass on an electric shock to the person who is flying the kite and could be fatal. In order to avoid such fatal accidents during kite flying, Tata Power conducted programmes in the vicinity of high-voltage lines. In the current year, training programmes have been conducted with more than 6,800 people and over 4,100 students across Mumbai. There are more such upcoming sessions to sensitise the maximum number of people. An interactive question and answer session and an animated film explaining the hazards were shown to help students to clear their doubts and misconceptions regarding electrical safety.

Speaking on the initiative, VK Chourey, head, transmission, Mumbai operation, Tata Power, said, “We at Tata Power are not only concerned about our employees' safety but also about the community at large. This initiative is aimed at ensuring the well-being of citizens, by educating them on electrical safety measures to be taken, especially around high-voltage transmission lines. We will continue with these awareness drives and spread safety messages pertaining to transmission lines to reduce accidents. We wish all our consumers and communities a very happy and safe Makar Sankranti.”

Jan Jagruti Abhiyaan is aimed at increasing awareness among citizens regarding the hazards of carrying out unauthorised activity in the vicinity of high-tension lines. These sessions include a presentation and a short film on the hazards of unauthorised construction of structures, flying kites, TV cable stringing, drying clothes, etc in the vicinity of high-tension lines and do's and don'ts to avoid any related hazards. In addition to this, Tata Power organises a special safety awareness programme (street plays with the help of NGOs) in the vicinity of high-tension lines under its Jan Jagruti Abhiyaan initiative. The objective is to spread the message among as many citizens as possible, to reduce the electrical accidents that can be caused while living in areas which are close to high-voltage transmission lines.