Oxygen cylinders: Four buses impounded

KARACHI: The police have impounded four passenger buses for using oxygen cylinders instead of CNG cylinders to fill and store fuel. According to DIG West Javed Odho, the police have started a crackdown against vehicle owners and drivers who are using oxygen cylinders rather than CNG ones, adding that this operation would begin after the first 10 days of Muharram. Odho said that oxygen cylinders are dangerous and unsafe to use and put people and property at risk as it can catch fire or explode easily. He added that an oxygen cylinder cannot bear the pressure of CNG, but are commonly used as they only cost around Rs5,000. A minibus was found to be using one in New Karachi and three more were impounded after this, he added. A few days ago, a passenger bus exploded at a CNG station on Abul Hassan Isphani Road but the authorities have yet to ascertain whether the bus was using an oxygen cylinder or a CNG one.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 21^st, 2012.