LPG shops reopen subject to safety measures

Seven weeks after the May 30 tragic blast at a Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) shop in Hyderabad, which claimed 27 lives, mostly children, some LPG shops have been allowed to reopen.

The LPG Distributors Association claimed at a press conference at Hyderabad Press Club on Friday that the district administration has allowed 10 of their around 200 shops to resume business.

However, Hyderabad Deputy Commissioner Zainul Abedin Memon told The Express Tribune that only nine shops have been allowed after verification of compliance with the safety rules.

According to the DC, another 40 applications by as many shops are under consideration. The district administration had sealed all the LPG shops in the city in reaction to the incident, leaving a severe shortage for domestic and commercial use of LPG in the wake.

The association’s central leader Irfan Khokhar told the press conference that they have assured the authorities that the dealers will implement the safety measures as stipulated by the government and OGRA. He said the reopened shops will not sell the fuel to the people turning up with substandard cylinders.

He added that their shops will also not operate near the educational institutions or in the busy commercial areas. “The very sad incident of Hyderabad had shaken the whole world.”

 According to Khokhar, the safety measures as decided by the DC Hyderabad will be implemented. “The shops which will follow those standards will be allowed to resume work.”

 He acknowledged that there are over 100 of factories in Gujranwala, Punjab, which are manufacturing and marketing substandard cylinders.

He said that it has been discussed with the Punjab government that the authorities will raid and seal such factories.

 Under the arrangement agreed to with the district administration, the empty cylinders will not be refilled at the shops; rather the buyers will be given filled cylinders in exchange of their empty ones. The association’s Hyderabad chapter leader Nawab Khan informed that “only packed cylinders will be sold to the people”.

 At present, only 42 kilograms and 12kg cylinders will be available at the reopened shops. However, Khan said that the LPG distribution companies have been asked to supply 2kg and 6kg cylinders keeping in view the demand of the household consumers belonging to middle and low income groups. He expressed hope that soon those small cylinders will be available at their shops.

Earlier on Friday, the LPG association’s representatives including Khokhar and President of Hyderabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (HCCI) Adeel Siddiqui held a meeting with the DC. The nine shops in question will start operating from July 13.

On June 7 the DC Hyderabad had issued detailed standard operating procedures (SOPs) to be implemented by the district administration, police and OGRA. The eight SOPs in the DC’s three-page letter included inspection and sealing of illegal LPG shops; dismantling of decanting equipment and removal of dangerous materials; shifting of LPG shops out of residential and densely populated areas; and issuance of safety measures certificates to the shops, among others.