RAWALPINDI: The Punjab government has directed the police across the province to provide lists of workshops operated by the Hydrocarbon Development Institute of Pakistan (HDIP) in different cities within three days.

The government also ordered a crackdown against all illegal liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) sale points and those involved in using substandard gas kits and unapproved cylinders in public service vehicles.

Around five gas cylinder testing laboratories authorised by the HDIP have been established in Islamabad, Peshawar, Lahore, Quetta and Karachi. In addition, eight laboratories have been outsourced in other cities. The HDIP trained manpower has been working in these laboratories to ensure CNG safety standards are followed by the public service vehicles.

In a letter, the provincial government directed the regional police officers and the highway police to provide lists of the HDIP workshops to ascertain whether or not the guidelines given by the CNG Safety Task Force on the use of cylinders, kits and other components were being followed.

Punjab govt also seeks lists of workshops operated by Hydrocarbon Development Institute of Pakistan (HDIP)

All the provincial governments had been informed by the CNG Safety Task Force in August 2017 to direct the law enforcement and other authorities in their jurisdictions to ensure that public transport vehicles followed the guidelines to avoid any accident.

The step was taken after reports about a number of accidents in public service vehicles using CNG cylinders in which scores of lives were lost. The accidents were attributed to the lack of compliance with the CNG safety rules by public transport vehicles.

The use of LPG as an alternative to CNG in public transport vehicles is an unsafe practice and can endanger the lives of passengers.The Punjab government’s directive said the CNG safety guidelines were being ignored at various levels.

The provincial governments had also been directed to ensure that all vehicles were inspected, including their cylinders and kits, by the government-approved workshops before operating on CNG.

In case of failing to get inspection from these workshops, strict action should be taken against such vehicles.

Under the safety rules, the CNG kit inspection is due after every six months. A yellow sticker approved by the Oil and Gas Development Authority (Ogra) is affixed on the vehicle’s windscreen after its inspection. After the cylinder is tested every five years, a certificate is issued to the owner by the authorised laboratory.

All motor vehicle examiners and other concerned authorities are also directed to stop renewing the route permits of CNG-fitted commercial vehicles without their valid inspection stickers.

The police, especially the traffic wardens, were directed to carry out checking of CNG-fitted vehicles and ensure that no uninspected commercial vehicle plied on the roads.

Published in Dawn, November 4th, 2017