LAHORE, May 5: Banning the de-canning of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) in Lahore, the city district government has directed the companies and distributors to replace substandard cylinders of their customers with the company-filled four-kilo approved ones.

Some 120,000 standard four-kilo capacity cylinders will be given free-of-cost to two-stroke rickshaw owners and drivers under a phased programme to eliminate chances of LPG decanting.

The decisions were taken at a marathon meeting of LPG companies’ representatives, distributors and rickshaw driver union’s office-bearers at the office of District Coordination Officer Sajjad Ahmad here on Monday.

The CDGL had in July last year decided to initiate a campaign against the manufacturing of substandard LPG cylinders.

Around 725 people have lost their lives because of the poor quality cylinders all over the country from June last year to date.

Shahalam and Lohari Gate are the wholesale markets of substandard cylinders, while big retailers are doing business on Lytton Road and Mozang Adda. All big hardware stores in every locality of the city too have put these cylinders on sale.

In Pakistan, six units are manufacturing cylinders according to the prescribed specification. In Lahore, only M/s Fast Tube Engineering Mills at Kot Lakhpat Industrial Estate and M/s High Tech Engineering at Mominpura on GT Road are the authorised manufacturers of LPG cylinders.

The number of small workshops manufacturing the substandard cylinders from used tar coal drums and low quality steel sheets is more than 100 in localities like Shahdara, Karim Park, Datanagar and Misri Shah.

According to the LPG Distributors Association, the poor quality cylinders are being manufactured in large quantity in Gujranwala. "Most of the substandard cylinders in Lahore markets are made in over 300 factories of Gujranwala," claimed association president Irfan Khokhar.