RAWALPINDI, May 15: Defying yet another ban on refilling of liquefied petroleum gas cylinders in residential areas, the owners of LPG refilling shops are back in business in Rawalpindi city, a survey conducted by Dawn reveals. The Tehsil Municipal Administration, in a campaign launched against gas cylinder refilling facilities on May 4, sealed 10 shops after a building collapse in Lahore on May 3 due to an explosion in a gas cylinder godown killing 29 people and injuring many others.

This was for the second time that the TMA, on the instructions of the Punjab government, imposed the ban on refilling of gas cylinder facilities.

But after a few days, the refilling business has been restarted in the densely-populated areas posing threat to the lives of the residents.

The local administration had imposed a similar ban on the ‘illegal’ business of LPG refilling about one-and-a-half years back, after an explosion in a gas refilling shop near Naz Cinema on Murree Road in which a number of people were killed and many others injured.

But after the passage of a few days the business was resumed.

This time the shop owners have adopted a new modus operandi. They keep their shutters down in the day time and start facilitating their customers, mostly rickshaw drivers, after sunset to throw dust into the eyes of the district administration.

When asked as to why the hazardous business has been allowed despite clear instructions from the provincial government, Tehsil Nazim Raja Hamid Nawaz said the ban on refilling of LPG cylinders had not been lifted. Those violating the ban would be punished, he warned.

Mr Nawaz said: “The refilling of LPG cylinders is illegal business and totally banned in Rawalpindi.”

The Islamabad administration also launched a campaign against the ‘illegal’ business in the rural areas of the capital.

An expert at the Rawalpindi Fire station, when asked about the danger and magnitude of loss in case of an explosion in residential areas, said it was a dangerous business and could cause huge loss.

He said neither the refilling shop owners follow the safety rules nor the concerned authorities [TMA] are serious in taking any action against these people.

A senior official of Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) said: “Manual refilling of gas cylinders is dangerous because these people do not follow the safety rules.”

He added that it is the responsibility of the civic authorities and the gas company who are involved ion selling LPG to these shops to check such illegal practise being done in residential areas without taking any safety measures.

A resident of Asghar Mall Road said: “There are at least four illegal refilling facilities operating in the area which are posing threat to the lives of residents of the area.”

There are many other such shops operating in Sadiqabad, Khayaban-i-Sir Syed and Dhoke Dalal localities.