Cylinder blasts: High court again asks Ogra for report

Petitioner seeks better regulation of manufacturers.

LAHORE:

The Lahore High Court Chief Justice (CJ) on Monday again sought a report from the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) about measures taken to avoid CNG cylinder blasts.

The CJ expressed displeasure over the report not being submitted and directed Ogra to ensure compliance with the order by the next date of hearing on March 13.

Advocate Rana Mehtab had filed a public interest petition in the wake of explosions of CNG cylinders fitted in public transport vehicles. The petitioner submitted that sub-standard cylinders were playing havoc with innocent lives and the government had failed to take any action.

He said defective cylinders were the reason behind the explosions. The lawyer said there were 3.2 million vehicles using CNG and almost 35% of the cylinders were sub-standard. He said that the installation of CNG cylinders by incompetent roadside mechanics was another factor contributing to the blasts.

He said that the government departments concerned were guilty of negligence as they were not checking the quality of cylinders.

He requested that those responsible for the sub-standard cylinder be punished and compensation be given to the victims’ families. He also requested that directions be issued to respondents to take immediate action against these cylinder manufacturers and sub-standard installation workshops.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 5^th, 2013.