KARACHI:Almost 70% of electrocution incidents take place in private premises and homes, speakers discussed at a webinar conducted by Mehfooz Pakistan.
The webinar was on the topic of Electrocution Prevention and Public Safety, said a news release on Saturday.
Present in the webinar along with the host Zarrar Khuhro were the esteemed panelists, Naimat Khan, a correspondent at Arab News, Urban Planner Muhmmad Toheed, Dr, Lubna Baig, Professor at the University of Lahore and Ex-Administrator Karachi Fahim uz Zaman.
Naimat Khan was asked about the electrocution cases especially those that occur in private premises. He said since electrocution cases were a seasonal problem happening mostly during monsoon, there wasn’t much importance given to the issue.
Zarrar Khuhro asked Dr Lubna about how the electrocution cases were reported and dealt with to which Dr Lubna responded that electrocution cases were not considered medicolegal cases which mean that these cases were not eligible for autopsy since there were no marks on the body and were not suspicious.
She also mentioned an important point that electrocution cases happen around the year however they get more hype during the monsoon season.
Fahim uz Zaman mentioned that even though there was an electric department in Karachi, due to factors such as inflation, people look for cheaper alternatives which at times resulted in accidents.
He also mentioned that the electrocution cases happening in areas like Surjani Town or Baldia Town were reported accurately because these topics were not sensational enough.
Talking about awareness and safety precautions, Toheed said that people were using cheaper wiring due to higher prices.
“People usually see videos on YouTube and try to do electrical work themselves to save money which they will have to pay the electrician to do a small task like changing the capacitor of their fan,” he mentioned.
He said even in these videos, no precautionary measures were highlighted.
Zarrar Khuhro agreed with Toheed and said if there was a huge audience available on social media then we should make videos on electrical safety and circulate them.
Dr Lubna mentioned that in order to reach the maximum amount of people and raise awareness against electrocution cases, there was a dire need for awareness campaigns and public service messages on TV in the prime-time slots and not after midnight.
Muhammad Toheed further mentioned, “Electrocution cases are never highlighted anywhere.”
Children should be given awareness regarding electrocution in schools which was the need of the hour, he said.
The webinar concluded with the host and all panelists agreeing that the electrocution and other electricity-related problems were very complex and couldn’t be resolved overnight until everyone responsible for the discrepancies was held accountable.