Under extreme circumstances, niggly little problems have a way of becoming debilitating. That’s true of a leaky water pipeline in the house, during lockdown.
Counted among those providing essential services, plumbers and electricians are allowed to resume work, but there may still be some reluctance on their part to start working and risk an infection.
So, it is necessary to find a plumber willing to work during these times. Fortunately, a database of such willing plumbers has been quickly prepared for residents to dip into.
Around nine hundred certified plumbers from across India have so far registered themselves for work during the lockdown, with the Indian Plumbing Skills Council which is associated with Skill India programme under the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE).
The database will continue to be updated in the days to come.
One of the possible benefits of enlisting the services of a plumber entered in this database is that IPSC has made these plumbers COVID-19 aware and sensitive.
IPSC has issued health and safety guidelines that the plumbers workforce should follow while working at residential buildings, hospitals, isolation centres, commercial complexes and all other establishments.
The advisory includes disinfecting tools and touch points before starting work; promptly disposing of used disposable materials; and encouraging cashless transaction. The plumbers are required to download the Aarogya Setu Mobile App on the phone.
Major General (retd.) T.K. Chadha, chief operating officer, IPSC, says that through its training partners in every state they have been taking up various initiatives to mainstream this workforce.
“Since 2014, we have trained nearly 1 lakh plumbers across India and formed a database of plumbers,” says Chadha.
He says plumbers have been graded depending on the skills and qualifications they possess, and they also have certification from the Government of India. Based on the assessment, plumbers are graded.
While this move is commendable during these times, the plumbers say that as sanitary shops are not open they will be able to attend to only certain types of emergency work.
Here is a random list of plumbers from major cities, and the list is light years away from being exhaustive.
For a comprehensive list, visit http://www.ipssc.in/covid/#services
Bengaluru
Krishna 9986015895
Venktesh 9845405002
Chennai
R. Moorthy 9884147143
N. S. Prabakaran 9840619729
A.Vignesh 6369207146
G.Arun Kumar 9841108036
P. Rajasekaran 9884055582
G.Satish Kumar 8939124203
M.Manikandan 9941930307
Delhi
Aamir 9711227795
Ajay 9899503689
Ajeet Kumar Paswan 8505948515
Aneesh Kumar 7054526775
Arjun Pandit 9312390914
Hyderabad
Arif Khan 9618142803
Feroz Khan 9396563038
Ghouse Pasha 8897122129
Hussain Khan 9700767994
Syed Mujeeb 9966668823
Tayyab Taher 8919193980
Mumbai
Abdul Wajid 9370018335
Thiruvananthapuram
Mohamedriyas 9061089610
Nandhu R 9539813939
Vipin. V.R. 7558841175
