November 05, 2006	Sunday	Shawwal 12, 1427

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RAWALPINDI, Nov 4: About 90 per cent of CNG stations in Rawalpindi and Islamabad are storing gas at pressure beyond the standard set by the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra), making the outlets vulnerable to blasts.

Three persons were injured in a blast at a CNG filling station near Super Market on Friday. The blast was third of its kind in the twin cities within a period of three months.

The twin cities house 221 CNG outlets out of a total of 870 in the country with majority of them storing gas at 5,000 to 6,000 PSI (pounds per square inch) against 3,600 set by Ogra.

A cursory survey conducted by Dawn on Saturday revealed that majority of the CNG stations did not discharge gas from the storage cylinders that exert pressure on the walls of gas containers which can bear pressure up to 3,600 PSI.

The Ogra inspectors can impose heavy fines or even close the station if the gas pressure exceeds the standard unit in the storage cylinders.

Storing more pressure in the cylinders help in fast filling of gas in the vehicles.

A number of CNG owners said 90 per cent of gas stations did not discharge the gas pressure, saying the major reason behind the explosion of cylinders was ‘high gas pressure’.

A CNG owner requesting anonymity told this reporter that Ogra inspectors had not visited his station for the last three months, adding that most of the inspectors did not know gas terminologies.

“If they (inspectors) ensure maintenance of gas pressure up to 3,600 PSI in all CNG stations, no cylinder would blast at all,” a CNG filling station manager said.

He said the gas cylinders usually exploded due to accumulation of excessive rust inside the containers. According to Ogra, each cylinder should be tested after five years, but this is not followed by a majority of CNG owners.

According to CNG owners, they can install only those cylinders which are approved by Ogra. But ironically, the cylinder that exploded in F-6 was approved by Ogra.

They said cylinders manufactured by the particular company had exploded three times in the twin cities.

A CNG owner said Ogra was blindly recommending the imported gas cylinders without testing the container, regretting that majority of Ogra-approved gas containers could not withstand the pressure of gas.

Majority of CNG stations are manual, lacking ‘safety’ installed on cylinders that gauges the gas pressure, which always leads to leakage.

The price of safety is Rs15,000 and majority of CNG station owners avoid purchasing the instrument which is the most important safety device in a gas plant.

Operators working at a manual CNG station discharge the gas pressure through compressors and in case they fail to check the machine for two hours, they would find themselves in a ball of fire resulting from the excess pressure in the cylinders.

“The incident at F-6 gas station happened due to negligence of the operator,” President All-Pakistan CNG Association Tariq Kandaan claimed.

He said in case of leakage, the gas operation should immediately be closed down rather searching for the leakage point.

According to CNG owners, the operator must possess knowledge about PSI, gas bars and the capacity of cylinders by undergoing a month-long training with Ogra, saying that none of the CNG operators in the twin cities possessed basic knowledge about gas.