Public safety: CNG stations warn drivers to get cylinders checked

Seven per cent of cylinders checked so far have been faulty.

LAHORE:

CNG stations have begun to warn drivers of cars older than five years that under Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) orders, they need a clearance certificate for their CNG cylinders in order to get fuel.

Several drivers said they had been unaware of the OGRA notification stating that CNG stations should not supply fuel to vehicles more than five years old unless they have certification that their cylinders are safe.

They said they had been surprised when told at the CNG station to get their cylinders checked. They said they were able to get Rs100-200 worth of CNG so their cars didn’t come to a halt.

The All Pakistan CNG Association said that stations would not deny cars CNG, as that was the government’s job. Clearance certificates for CNG cylinders need to be renewed every five years.

Boards and banners advising motorists to get their CNG cylinders checked have been displayed at CNG stations. The Hydrocarbon Development Institute of Pakistan (HDIP) at Ghulshan-i-Ravi is the only body authorised by OGRA to check cylinders, but there are three other institutions that issue cylinder clearance certificates in Lahore. These are recognised by the Explosives Department, which is part of the Ministry of Industries.

Engineer Saeed Khan of the HDIP said that the institute had become a lot busier since OGRA issued the instructions. He said that so far, inspectors had found about seven per cent of the cylinders they had checked to be faulty. He said if a cylinder was found to be unfit, it was sawed in half so it could not be reused. He said the HDIP was charging Rs500 to inspect a vehicle cylinder and Rs2,000 to inspect a large storage cylinder kept at CNG stations. He said the HDIP could check about 50 cylinders a day, but was able to check less during times of load shedding.

“We have been warning all drivers to get their cylinders certified or they won’t get CNG,” said Muhammad Akram, manager of a Caltex pump on Wahdat Road. “Many motorists realise the danger and get it checked instantly,” he said.

Adil Khan, a driver waiting his turn at a fuel station, said he appreciated the government’s decision to increase scrutiny following several recent accidents involving CNG cylinders. “Car users should realise that it is for their own safety,” he said.

He said he had had his cylinder checked last week after he heard of the accidents. “I gave it in on Monday and got it back by Wednesday.”

Ghias Paracha, chairman of the All Pakistan CNG Association, said that he was meeting with OGRA officials on Monday and would propose 97 certification centres be set up in Punjab, 18 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 21 in Sindh and three in Balochistan.

“If the plan is approved we will ensure that all certified vehicles are pasted with a special sticker. The sticker could then be verified from a number given by the Pakistan Telecommunications Authority through a mobile message,” he said.

He said that the priority should be to first clear intercity public transport vehicles, then urban commercial transport and finally non-commercial vehicles. He said that the association was educating the public at CNG stations about the importance of getting cylinders checked. “But we will not stop refuelling old cars. That is for the government to check,” he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 9^th, 2012.