CNG cylinder kits installed in more than half of public transport vehicles in the city have been declared substandard by a task force set up by the Interior Ministry to inspect these vehicles. While around 40 per cent were declared fit.
The task force submitted its report to the Interior Ministry after its inspection tour on Monday. The report stated that out of 200 vehicles inspected by the task force, more than 100 had substandard CNG kits. It said on many vehicles kits had been installed at workshops that were not approved by the Department of Explosives or the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority. In fact some of these workshops had been banned by the Department of Explosives, it stated.
The task force observed that most rickshaws had LPG as well as CNG kits, which is a violation of the CNG Rules, 1992. Many Hiace vans had uncovered pipes running under passenger seats. In some vehicles, high pressure CNG pipes were found installed near the batteries. In some cases, the team observed that unapproved or de-listed CNG cylinders were installed.
Only around 70 of the 200 vehicles the team inspected had CNG kits installed by approved workshops and not due for inspection/re-fitting.
The task force suggested in its report that substandard valves on high-pressure CNG pipes be immediately removed from all public transport vehicles. It also said pipes carrying gas from fuel tank to the kit and the carburettor must be installed away from battery. Unapproved workshops installing CNG kits should be sealed and their equipment confiscated, they further suggested.
All stake holders including the All Pakistan CNG Association and transport associations should be associated with this campaign. They also said that the four-member task force set up for each city, Lahore, Gujranwala, Faisalabad and Multan, shall frequently visit CNG stations in their respective area of jurisdiction to inspect CNG kits installed in public transport vehicles. The task force, headed by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), was set up on December 29, 2012, in wake of four CNG cylinder accidents in the province in December, 2011, killing 28 people and injuring 22 others.
The task force for Lahore consisted of Abdul Ali Khan, an inspector of explosives; Muhammad Saeed Khan, the officer in charge at the Hydro-Carbon Development Institute of Pakistan; and Arsalan Khan, an OGRA assistant director.
It was supervised by Syed Javed Hussain Shah, the FIA Corporate Crime Circle deputy director.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 4th, 2012.
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