The Hindu Business Line : Plumbing association to set up institute

THE Indian Plumbing Association, the national body of plumbing industry, is planning to set up an institute for plumbing in the country. The primary objective of the institute is to create good plumbers, as the country today needed "water and sanitation revolution" in safeguarding health and hygiene of the society, Mr Sudhakaran Nair, Founder Member of Indian Plumbing Association (IPA) and the present Chairman of the IPA Bangalore chapter told Business Line.

Calling upon the Government's and private sector support for the venture, he said that the educational institutions should include special subjects on plumbing, sanitation in the syllabus of architectural and civil engineering courses. Vocational training institutions could also contribute by adding courses on plumbing for students with primary education, he added.

The need of the hour is to create awareness among citizens about the significance of the plumbing profession in protecting the health of people. The poor sanitary conditions and unsafe drinking water is responsible for most commonly known epidemics in India.

It is now even recognised by World Health Organisation that inadequate plumbing is major contributory factor in spread of SARS virus, he said. He also demanded the Government to declare plumbing industry as an essential service and offer facilities for its development.

Mr Nair, who is the first Indian elected to the Executive Board of the World Plumbing Council, pointed out that developed countries attach importance to the plumbing profession. Before being permitted to practice on the field, an education and training programme of three to five years is mandatory in these countries.

Referring to Indian scenario, he pointed out that the plumbing and sanitary installations continue to remain neglected in the country, even though it forms a vital component of any construction meant for human habitat.

The cost of construction works in India in the current fiscal is estimated at Rs 60,000 crore and the share of plumbing and sanitation works will be 5 to 10 per cent of the total construction cost depending on nature of occupancy.

However, only five per cent of the plumbing works in the country is handled by the organised sector consisting of established consultants and contractors, he said.

There are no institutes to train personnel for the plumbing industry. The few specialist consulting and contracting firms available in the plumbing industry had to depend on in-house training to create plumbing engineers and technicians.

Mr Nair, who heads the plumbing and contracting firm ESSENCO, has adopted a new technically oriented approach to the contracts in plumbing and fire fighting projects.

The company with offices in 6 cities also imparts in-house training to young engineers and plumbers encouraging them to join the trade.

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