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Safety tips

What to switch off first, what you can safely do, and what you should never do yourself. Keep the numbers below in your phone.

Numbers to keep

  • Ambulance (Tamil Nadu)

    108

    Someone hurt by a shock: burns, breathing trouble, unconscious.

  • National emergency

    112

    Police, fire and ambulance from any phone.

  • TNPDCL Minnagam (electricity board), 24 hours

    94987 94987

    Power failure in the street, fallen or snapped wires, a damaged pole or meter. Also on WhatsApp.

  • LPG emergency (Indane, Bharatgas, HP Gas)

    1906

    Smell of gas. Not a plumber or electrician job: call from outside the house.

  • Fire

    101

    Fire or heavy smoke.

Numbers last checked on 4 Nov 2026.

Electrical

ElectricalCall now, day or night

A socket, switch or board is sparking, smoking or smells of burning

FirstSwitch off the mains

Do

  • Switch off the main switch at your board, if you can reach it without touching anything wet.
  • Leave a hot or sparking plug where it is until the power is off.
  • Keep everyone out of the room and call us.

Don't do this yourself

  • Don't throw water on an electrical fire.
  • Don't open the board or the socket to look.
  • Don't switch the mains back on to "test" it.

ElectricalCall now, day or night

Someone is getting an electric shock

FirstSwitch off the mains

Do

  • Switch off at the plug, the MCB or the main switch.
  • If you can't, stand on something dry (a wooden plank, a plastic mat) and push them clear with a dry wooden broom handle or chair.
  • Once they're free, check their breathing. Not breathing normally: call 108 and start CPR.
  • Cool burns under clean running water, and take them to hospital even if they seem fine.

Don't do this yourself

  • Don't touch them while they may still be in contact with the current.
  • Don't use anything metal or wet to move them.
  • Don't go near a fallen overhead line at all: keep everyone back and call 94987 94987 and 112.

ElectricalCall now, day or night

Water is near wiring: a ceiling leak onto a light, water at the board, a flooded floor

FirstSwitch off the mains

Do

  • Switch off the main switch, only if the switch and the floor where you stand are dry.
  • If you'd have to step in water to reach it, don't: call us, or TNPDCL on 94987 94987.
  • Close the water valve too if the water is from a pipe.

Don't do this yourself

  • Don't touch switches, sockets or walls that are damp.
  • Don't switch anything back on until it has been checked and dried.

Electrical

The MCB or RCCB keeps tripping

FirstNothing to switch off

Do

  • Switch off and unplug what was running when it tripped (often a geyser, iron or heater), then reset once.
  • If it trips again with that unplugged, leave it off and call us.
  • Press your RCCB's T (test) button once a month: it should trip at once.

Don't do this yourself

  • Don't hold the switch up or tape it on.
  • Don't replace an MCB or RCCB with a bigger one: it's there to trip.
  • Don't change MCBs, RCCBs or the board yourself: the law requires a licensed contractor (CEA Regulation 31).

Electrical

The EB meter, the service wire or the pole outside has a problem

FirstNothing to switch off

Do

  • Call TNPDCL Minnagam on 94987 94987 (phone or WhatsApp, 24 hours).
  • Keep people and animals away from a fallen or hanging wire.

Don't do this yourself

  • Don't open, touch or "adjust" the meter, the cut-out or the service cable. They belong to TNPDCL, and no electrician of ours will touch them either.
  • Don't move a fallen wire, even with a stick.

Electrical

Heavy appliances on extension boards

FirstNothing to switch off

Do

  • Give a geyser, iron, induction stove or AC its own 15 or 16 A socket, earthed.
  • Feel plugs and extension boards now and then: warm means overloaded.

Don't do this yourself

  • Don't run heaters or a geyser off a multi-plug.
  • Don't run wires under mats or where people walk.
  • Don't touch switches with wet hands.

Plumbing and water

PlumbingCall now, day or night

A pipe has burst, or a leak won't stop

FirstClose the main water valve

Do

  • Close the main valve on the line from your tank or the corporation supply. Learn where it is today, before you need it.
  • Switch off the motor pump and the geyser.
  • Open the taps to drain the pipes, and catch what you can.
  • If water reaches sockets or the board, switch off the mains, only if the switch is dry.

Don't do this yourself

  • Don't stand in water to reach an electrical switch.
  • Don't keep the motor running to "fill up" while the pipe is open.

PlumbingCall now, day or night

You smell gas

FirstNothing to switch off

Do

  • Close the cylinder's regulator if you can do it safely.
  • Open doors and windows and get everyone out.
  • Call 1906 from outside the house.

Don't do this yourself

  • Don't switch any light, fan or switch on or off, not even ours: a spark can light it.
  • Don't light a match or a stove.
  • Don't call a plumber or electrician for gas: it's the gas agency's job.

Plumbing

A drain is blocked

FirstNothing to switch off

Do

  • Try a plunger first.
  • Run hot (not boiling) water if the pipe is PVC.

Don't do this yourself

  • Don't mix drain cleaners, or pour a second one after the first: some mixtures give off toxic gas.
  • Don't enter a septic tank, sewage sump or manhole, or let anyone go in. Sewer gas kills, and hiring anyone to do it by hand is a crime under the Manual Scavengers Act, 2013.

Plumbing

Geyser valve dripping, or the motor pump runs but no water comes

FirstSwitch off the motor pump

Do

  • Geyser: a few drops while heating is normal. Constant dripping or spraying: switch the geyser off and call us.
  • Pump: switch it off when the sump is empty; a dry run burns the seal.
  • Ask us about a dry-run preventer or an automatic level controller.

Don't do this yourself

  • Never plug or cap a geyser's pressure-relief valve.
  • Don't keep restarting a pump that isn't lifting water: it may have an air lock.
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