According to a report submitted to PHC by NAB,101 or so officials of various government departments in K-P are running transport businesses and using substandard CNG cylinders to cut costs. DESIGN: FAIZAN DAWOOD
Even by the standards of this country, it is too early to forget the horrors of the Gujrat bus accident last May, when 17 children and their teacher were burnt alive because of a CNG cylinder explosion. Prior to this, in December 2011, was the accident near Hyderabad where 11 people, including six children, were burnt to death in a similar incident. These are only two instances of many such accidents. There are countless such events that occur in Pakistan on a daily basis, which go unnoticed because the number of dead is not high enough. A report released by Civil Society Front last year claimed that as many as 2,000 people had died because of CNG cylinder explosions in 2011. The report said the number of fatalities were likely to double in following years given the abundant usage of expired or poor quality CNG kits.
Following increased casualties, the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority had also recommended a ban on CNG use in public transport. But who will ensure this when officials designated to secure the lives of the public are themselves involved? Indeed, the officials involved in this are from the same departments that are expected to either take action or sensitise the public against such acts. The NAB report states that the said individuals are from the police, education, public health, population welfare, among other departments. NAB had prepared the report after the PHC had taken suo-motu notice of the matter and the case has now been closed. The government must, now, take a stand and conduct an impartial inquiry into the allegations so that more lives are not lost due to such negligence.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 10th, 2014.
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Government officials are supposed to keep a check for quality and price of goods produced by general public,rather than themselves indulging in doing the business.So long as this practice is not reversed the cylinders will keep exploding
It is extremely important for the Govt to play a role in making sure people are following the 'best practices' guidelines when it comes to CNG use. It should be checked to verify if the CNG Kit has been upgraded or inspected after every so many years of use. People in Pakistan do not have the necessary knowledge or awareness in public security matters. Media should play a key role, i mean enough already, in America 2000 people died on Sept 11 and they changed the world, and we have 2000 including children dying in 2011 alone because of such accidents and all we are saying is the number of causalities will grow, all signs of a failed state, failed media, and incorrect goals, unfortunately.
How many Editorials have to be written before Pakistan implements basic safety regarding these containers? You can develop nukes but can't implement common safety/certification program?