KOCHI: John P J of Kathrikadavu here is totally clueless on how to fix a faulty drainage pipe at his home, causing overflowing of his kitchen sink for the last two days. Though a plumber turned up at his flat to repair the pipe, he couldn’t do much as no appropriate fittings were available because of the lockdown.
Routines have been upended in the last two weeks and a faulty pipe line or an electrical system at homes is giving one hell of a time for residents.
Though a few plumbers and electricians are available on call, unavailability of fittings and spares is making things worse for the people, who are also worried over bringing in a worker to their home due to Corona scare. “Already, life is under tremendous stress. When incidents like a pipeline damage or a faulty power line occur, it becomes more stressful. Getting a plumber or an electrician on time has always been a cumbersome process. Now, with lockdown in place, it’s literally impossible to get one,” John added.
Anil Kumar G, a plumber based out of Kaloor, said he gets at least two calls from customers on a daily basis for repair works. “Basically, customers complain about disruption in water supply and breakdown of sewage lines. The increase in consumption of water has resulted in heavy usage of motor pumps, causing damage to foot valves and pumps. We carry a couple of fittings like T-joints and reducer. But if the repair requires more fittings, then we are helpless. It’s really impossible to buy fittings because all shops are shut,” he added.
Blessan Mathew, owner of ALBE Fixall, a city-based electrical and plumbing solutions company, said they have been getting a lot of calls from people. “We do our best to help the people at this time of crisis. But certain repair works require new fittings which are hard to get. We had stocked three spare motor pumps and in the last three days, we used them to replace the faulty ones. We don’t have much spares left with us. . Whenever a customer calls, we tell them to contact the nearest police station to communicate that a team is coming to attend to the complaint,” he added.