ISLAMABAD: Lahore High Court (LHC) Rawalpindi bench on Monday admitted a petition seeking crackdown on the restaurants of Bahria Town’s Food Street for using unsafe gas cylinder.

The petitioner Khurram Shehzad is residing in the neighborhood of the restaurants in Phase 7 of Bahria Town in which a gas cylinder blown off recently.

The incident of explosions occurred in the vicinity of commercial area (Food Street) of Bahria Town on July 25 at 2:25 am in the basements of two restaurants namely Asian Wok & Baitul Arab Mandi, claiming three persons’ lives and injuring many others.

The explosion also caused financial loss to the surrounding buildings and properties.

The explosion was reportedly occurred due to leakage in the LPG Gas cylinders stored in the kitchens and service areas of these restaurants.

The petitioner through his lawyer Malik Imran Safdar Advocate filed a writ petition in public interest as well as for being a victim of the incident.

The basic objective of the petition was to ensure the compliance of the fundamental rights of the citizens guaranteed by the constitution, with regard to the safety and protection of the innocent citizens who visit this commercial area to spend their leisure time with their loved ones for having dinner or lunch.

The petition stated that the visitors are unaware of the danger to their lives due to noncompliance of security standard operating procedures (SOPs) by the respondent authorities.

The petition cited ministry of energy, oil and gas regulatory authority, Civil Defence, Rawalpindi police and restaurants as respondents.

Bakery sealed

The Rawalpindi district administration on Monday sealed a renowned bakery in Bahria Town Phase -7 after finding its kitchen in a bad condition.

“The kitchen of the bakery was in a bad condition and was filled with the odour of stale food items,” said Rawalpindi Cantt Assistant Commissioner Qandeel Fatima Memon while talking to Dawn.

Ms Memon said that during the inspection of different food outlets, she found cockroaches in the kitchen of the bakery as it was covered with filth. She said food samples had been sent for a laboratory test. She vowed to continue raids on food outlets would continue.

The AC has also directed her team to check the health of the workers of the food outlets.

Published in Dawn, September 12th, 2023