Delhi Transco urges people not to fly kites near power lines

New Delhi: Ahead of Independence Day, Delhi Transco has urged people to fly kites in open spaces such as parks and playgrounds and not use metal-coated ‘manjha’ for their own safety and smooth transmission of power.

“While flying kites the people should stay away from the electrical installations because their minor carelessness can lead to major power failure, blackout electrocution or even death,” said Shurbir Singh , CMD, Delhi Transco.

Around Independence Day, a large number of people fly kites with metal-coated string. When this ‘manjha’ comes in contact with live wires it causes tripping, resulting in blackout in the area fed by the affected line and can cause serious injuries to the kite flyers and may even result in death.

Meanwhile, Tata Power-DDL has also suggested some safety measures for kite flying. The power discom has suggested using only cotton or natural fiber strings to fly kites and avoiding metal coated manjha (kite string) that can lead to dangerous entanglements with power lines.

Children should not run after kites with broken strings on the road or try to rescue them from trees as it could lead to road accidents, it said, adding that flying kites from terraces should be avoided as children may fall from it.

Notably, the metal-coated kite string commonly known as ‘manjha’ causes electric lines to trip when it comes in contact while kite flying. If one line of 66/33 KV gets tripped, it can cause interruption in the homes of more than 10,000 people and if a line trip of 11 KV occurs, then the power supply of more than 2,500 people can be affected, it added.