No check on unsafe LPG cylinders

Gas shortage, petrol price hike push citizens towards unregulated fuel outlets

LAHORE:

Manufacturers and sellers of substandard cylinders have put at risk the lives of millions of people turning to using liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) because of the high prices of petroleum and shortage of natural gas.

Domestic and commercial users, as well as transporters, found the solution to the exorbitant prices of petroleum products and shutting of compressed natural gas (CNG) stations in consuming LPG.

However, incidents of LPG cylinder explosions in shops, houses and restaurants are also being reported frequently along with the increase in the consumption of the fuel.

The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) and other government agencies responsible have not take any major step to ensure safety of the LPG consumers.

There is not a single formal LPG filling station in Lahore but the o going gas shortage and the high cost of petroleum in the cold weather have multiplied the consumption of LPG.

Thousands of shops in streets of city and its adjoining areas are involved in illegal sale of LPG. Out of the shops, only a small proportion sell LPG with adequate safety measures.

According to the data of Rescue 1122 and distributors, over 4,000 people have lost their lives in the pa15 years due to explosion of LPG cylinders in Punjab, while more than 10,000 people were injured, of whom about 2,000 became physically disabled.

Many transporters reportedly use CNG cylinders for LPG.

Last year, an LPG cylinder caused a fire in a van near Shahkot in Gujranwala and 11 people were burnt to death. After the accident, OGRA, police, the transport department and district administration started an investigation. The investigation was completed but no action was taken in its light.

Decanting of LPG is carried out in more than 7,000 shops in Lahore.

Transporters allege that after the closure of CNG stations and hike and petrol and diesel prices, LPG is being illegally used in about 60 per cent transport vehicles in the city.

OGRA has banned the use of LPG in transport and given its powers to the district government to take action against violation of the ban.

According to OGRA spokesperson Imran Ghaznavi, the authority cannot take action at the sale points in residential area. It is only authorised to take action against licensed companies and their distributors.

The spokesman said the district administration and civil defence department were supposed to take action against illegal sale of LPG and manufacture of substandard cylinders.

OGRA writes to the chief secretaries of all the provincial governments every month, instructing them to take effective action against those who manufacture substandard cylinders and sell gas in them. LPG Association founder chairman Irfan Khokhar said while speaking to The Express Tribune that his association had protested against the manufacturers of substandard cylinders but also demanded OGRA and district administration and demanded action against them. Whenever a cylinder explodes, the district administration and OGRA try to shift responsibility upon each other, he alleged.

Khokhar said OGRA and the government had made very strict laws but they were not implemented.

He said the LPG policy should be changed. There was an LPG station in Lahore, which is now closed. It costs millions of rupees to install an LPG station.

He said pieces of land of the required three-kanal area were not available along main road of a city like Lahore and if found, were so expensive that no one was willing to install LPG stations there.

He said rickshaw and cab drivers filled LPG from shops without any precautionary measures because of the ban imposed on transport by OGRA.

The LPG Association leader said OGRA should issue licences and install LPG dispensers like CNG stations.

“The accidents can only be avoided by introducing modern technology and immediately taking action against those selling LPG without licence,” he said.

He said OGRA had given permission to 26 companies but substandard cylinders were being manufactured in several cities of the province.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 30^th, 2022.