DESIGN: FAIZAN DAWOOD
KARACHI: The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Tuesday gave another deadline for the federal and provincial governments to take ‘effective’ measures to remove substandard gas cylinders, tanks and CNG kits from public transport vehicles operating across the province.
The concerned officials were further directed by the division bench, headed by Justice Ahmed Ali M Sheikh, to submit compliance reports by August 23.
The order came on a petition filed by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), which had gone to court seeking a ban on installation of substandard gas cylinders, tank and CNG kits in public and private transport vehicles.
“Several people have lost their lives due to the use of substandard gas cylinders in public transport, but the authorities concerned have failed to take action against such traffic violations,” Rana Faizul Hasan, HRCP general secretary, stated in his plea.
He referred to the incident in which two passengers were killed and many others were injured after an explosion in a mini-bus’s gas cylinder at a CNG station in Gulshan-e-Iqbal on November 17.
Hasan implored the court to order that only government-verified cylinders and CNG kits should be used in vehicles to avoid accidents and blasts. The court was also requested to put a stop to decanting of LPG in densely populated areas.
The judges had ordered the concerned authorities in the federal and provincial governments on November 28 to take action in this regard.
On February 13, the court gave the authorities a two week extension in their deadline to comply with the directions or face ‘contempt proceedings’.
On Tuesday, the case was taken up by another bench to see what progress had been made, but it found that nothing had been done despite repeated directions and deadline extensions.
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Appreciated! Was needed since long.