LAHORE: The manufacturing and sale of substandard liquid petroleum gas (LPG) cylinders and subsequent blasts at homes, shops and restaurants and in vehicles have blatantly exposed the failure of the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra), being the main regulatory authority, in ensuring safety of millions of citizens using the LPG cylinders as an alternative energy source.

A recent report of the Punjab Emergency Service Department showed a total 328 incidents of fire caused by leakage and explosion of the LPG cylinders during the last two years in the province. Lahore remained at the top by reporting 107 such incidents, followed by 35 in Faisalabad and 32 in Rawalpindi. As many as 17 citizens died in these incidents, 133 were hospitalised with multiple burns and 27 were given first aid.

About Lahore, the report stated that two persons died of critical injuries while 48 were hospitalised. Similarly, Gujranwala reported 15 incidents while 11 each occurred in Multan and Sargodha.

An official, privy to information, has declared the figures in the report of the Punjab Emergency Service ‘doubtful,’ saying it is missing many big and powerful cylinder explosions involving multiple deaths and injuries to many people. For example, he says, the report has not mentioned deaths of seven people in the wake of a powerful cylinder blast in the basement of a shop in Jhelum in July of last year. As a result of the blast, a three-storey private hotel on the Grand Trunk Road had collapsed, trapping a number of people underneath the rubble. Police had lodged a case against the hotel owner and another shopkeeper for running an illegal liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) cylinder business in the basement of the building.

Most of 500 manufacturing units in Gujranwala violate SOPs while Ogra looks the other way; 328 fatal incidents reported in last two years

The official says the cylinder blast incidents have increased manifold during the last few months due to production of the low quality LPG cylinders. He says the elements in Punjab have started manufacturing the substandard LPG cylinders as a profitable business due to the energy crisis that has hit the country hard, forcing the citizens to use LPG as an alternative source.

He says Gujranwala is the first city where the number of units of manufacturers of the LPG cylinders has reached 500 and most of them are blatantly violating the standard operating procedures (SOPs) and guidelines issued by Ogra.

According to the official, the Jinnah Road of Gujranwala has become a hub of such activities where a large number of substandard LPG are manufactured, sold to be supplied to the rest parts of Punjab. The most common complaints are related to the use of substandard regulators and nozzles, weak welding points and low weight. He says the Shah Alam Market in Lahore is the second major source of sale and supply of the substandard LPG cylinders, putting lives of millions of people at grave risk.

The lingering energy crisis, low pressure and suspension of officially supplied gas to the commercial entities and the residences have forced the citizens, particularly those with low budget, to buy substandard LPG cylinders to run businesses as well as their own kitchen.

The official says that a growing trend of LPG cylinders use has been witnessed during the last a couple of years in urban areas where millions of consumers have started using them for small burger setups, tea points, tandoors etc to meet the expenses. Resultantly, the incidents of fire and blasts related to cylinders of substandard quality connected with the stoves continue to rise.

Three such incidents took place consecutively in Lahore alone during the last three days, leaving many people injured, some of them critically.

On Friday, a LPG cylinder exploded at a house in Nizam Block of Iqbal Town, leaving a 60-year-old man, Sarfraz Umar, dead on the spot while another was injured critically.

According to the Rescue 1122, the man had suffered multiple and deep wounds, which led to his instant death.

Speaking to Dawn, the founding chairman of the LPG Industries Association, Irfan Khokhar, has confirmed that the manufacturing and sale of the substandard LPG cylinders is on the rise in the country, particularly, in some towns of Punjab with Gujranwala at the top. He says he called on the Punjab Civil Defence Director on Friday with a prime objective of launching a crackdown on the manufactures of the low-quality LPG cylinders who are playing with the lives of people. He says the substandard LPG cylinders are being sold as in the markets of Gujranwala and Lahore but hardly any regulatory framework has been applied on them to protect the lives of a large number of people.

Khokhar says the housewives and children are particularly at a greater risk by the incidents involving the substandard cylinders as a cheaper option.

Another disturbing aspect of the development is that the use of cylinders in the transport sector has also been a growing and bigger threat to the lives of thousands of people.

“The LPG cylinders are being used in a large number in motorcycle and auto rickshaws, school vans and busses, violating public safety guidelines,” Mr Khokhar says.

He has urged the regulatory authorities to create a large-scale awareness for the manufactures as well as users of the cylinders to follow the minimum quality standards issued for the public safety. He suggests that the campaign should include multiple crackdowns by Ogra, home department, district administrations, industry and other regulatory bodies under zero tolerance to prevent cylinder blast incidents occurring everyday across the province.

Published in Dawn, May 11th, 2024