While during winter consumers use substandard gas heaters, the trends of using substandard cooling heating appliances like air coolers are rising year after year.
The death of a house owner in a recent geyser blast incident in Narkara area of Budgam district is a wakeup call for the power consumers in Kashmir Valley as there is lot of lessons power consumers of Kashmir need to take from the incident. While the cause of the blast was stated to be the laxity shown by the inmates in suspending the power supply to the geyser at brief intervals, the fact remains that continued power supply to geysers didn’t result in such blasts anywhere else in Kashmir Valley. So apparently the substandard quality of the geyser is the cause of the death of the Narkara house owner. As geyser was of substandard quality, the continued power supply to it resulted in the fatality which could have been prevented either by replacing the geyser after it outlived its utility or by stopping the power supply to it after brief intervals. Wisdom demands that when purchasing capacity forces a consumer to purchase substandard heating appliances from the market, the safety of life and property lies inevitably in preventions to be taken by the consumer himself and his family. It has been noticed in recent years that laxity shown by the people in using substandard heating appliances even during chilly months of winter leads to deaths due to asphyxiation more during nights in the residential houses and less at the workplaces in the daytime. While during winter consumers use substandard gas heaters, the trends of using substandard cooling heating appliances like air coolers are rising year after year.
“While people in Kashmir unfortunately don’t take any lesson from the use of substandard gas heaters that lead to deaths of users due to asphyxiation during chilly months of winter, the death of a house owner in a geyser blast incident at Narakara incident is a wakeup call for both the people and as well as the Government. While it is for the people to show restrain in purchasing substandard heating appliances, the Government also owes lot of explanation for allowing supply and sale of substandard heating appliance in both Kashmir Valley and as well as Jammu division.”
While it is for the people to avoid purchase of substandard heating appliances for their own safety, the onus of regulating the supply and sale of substandard heating appliances lies on the Government. A mass awareness campaign about the life risks linked to supply and sale of substandard heating appliances could most probably reduce the rise in Narakara like geyser blast incident that resulted in the death of a house owner and also the deaths caused by asphyxiation due to use of gas heaters during chilly months of winter in Kashmir. While people in Kashmir unfortunately don’t take any lesson from the use of substandard gas heaters that lead to deaths of users due to asphyxiation during chilly months of winter, the death of a house owner in a geyser blast incident at Narakara incident is a wakeup call for both the people and as well as the Government. While it is for the people to show restrain in purchasing substandard heating appliances, the Government also owes lot of explanation for allowing supply and sale of substandard heating appliance in both Kashmir Valley and as well as Jammu division
