Bad business: Five teams formed to crack down on LPG decanting

“This is an extremely dangerous activity and there have been several accidents and explosions," says DCO

BAHAWALPUR: DCO Ehtisham Anwar Mahaar criticised the Civil Defence Department at a meeting on Thursday for not taking effective measures to close down LPG decanting shops in the district. Earlier, the Civil Defence Department district officer had said that they had launched a stringent crackdown against LPG decanting and had filed complaints against several violators.

The DCO had called a meeting at the conference room in his office to review measure taken to check shops where LPG was being decanted illegally.

“This is an extremely dangerous activity and there have been several accidents and explosions at decanting shops over the last few months.”

The DCO said that he had received complaints that some officials of relevant departments were hand-in-glove with those running such shops. He said action would be taken against those officials.

The DCO also announced special inspection and supervisory teams for five tehsils of the district. He said Section 144 had been invoked on LPG decanting. “This is now a cognizable and a non-bailable offence…we hope this should serve as deterrent.” The supervisory teams would be headed by assistant commissioners, the DCO said.

Earlier, the participants of the meeting were told that a special crackdown had already been launched to check the dangerous business. Civil defence officials had given a presentation in which they had told the DCO that they had filed complaints to police against 25 people they had caught red-handed in the last week.

Civil Defence District Officer Fatima Hashim Khan told the participants of the meeting that they had mobilised all available resources to crackdown on LPG decanting in the district. She said most of the cases had been registered with the Baghdad-ul-Jadeed and Civil Lines police. Khan said they had inspected and sealed on Thursday several shops where LPG was being decanted.

Khan was joined by Bahawalpur City Assistant Commissioner Rao Tasleem Akhtar who also presented his report regarding inspections and cases registered in this regard.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 5^th, 2016.