Rolling time-bombs: IHC unimpressed by ICT report on multi-CNG cylinder vehicles

Chief justice directs city administration to submit detailed report.

ISLAMABAD:

Dissatisfied with an Islamabad administration report regarding the removal of multiple compressed natural gas (CNG) cylinders from public transport vehicles, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Monday observed that it had failed to take practical steps to address the problem.

IHC Chief Justice Muhammad Anwar Khan Kasi was hearing a case against the use of multiple (CNG) cylinders in public transport. Islamabad Assistant Commissioner Muhammad Ali submitted a report claiming that the Islamabad chief commissioner had constituted a team to take action against violators in collaboration with Islamabad Traffic Police. He said the administration had started a campaign against owners of vehicles fitted with multiple cylinders, but did not provide details. The court observed that matter was serious as it endangered the life of commuters. “The report is meaningless as there are no details of violators,” Justice Kasi observed.

After Ali’s statement, the bench remarked that the Islamabad Transport Authority secretary and Islamabad chief commissioner issued routine official letters and did not pursue the matter seriously. The court directed them to submit a detailed report next week after taking practical steps against violators.

Earlier, the petitioner’s counsel had drawn the court’s attention towards an incident that took place in July 2011, in which 15 people were burnt alive in Koral after a CNG cylinder in a van exploded.

Meanwhile, the twin cities’ transporters association has decided to become a party in this case. Advocate Asim Mukhtar Chaudhry told The Express Tribune that he will file an application on behalf of the transporters’ associations against the campaign initiated by the transport secretary. He claimed that the transport secretary cannot remove extra cylinders from vehicles as the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) has permitted them to place two cylinders in their vehicles.

On May 29, the court had taken notice of the practice of installing multiple CNG cylinders in public transport vehicles and ordered the government to remove extra cylinders, with special focus on vehicles transporting students. The court took notice after a lawyer highlighted an incident in Gujrat, where 19 schoolchildren and a teacher lost their lives in a school van after it caught fire when the driver switched the car from CNG to petrol.

In a related development, Rawalpindi District Coordination Officer Rashid Mehmood Langrial termed the strike illegal and advised the transporters to abide by the law and cooperate with the administration to ensure the safety of commuters. Replying to a question, he said the district administration was working to ensure full implementation of the court order and did not have authority to negotiate with transporters on issues relating to the judiciary or OGRA. Chief Traffic Officer Ishtiaq Shah said check-posts had been set up after Regional Transport Authority  officials informed them about threats received by transporters who did not heed the strike call.

The unannounced strike over the judicial order is tantamount to contempt of court,” said a Rawalpindi district administration official. Public transporters in the twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad remained off the road for the fifth consecutive day to protest the IHC directive.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 25^th, 2013.