LAHORE, May 26: As many as 124 more shopkeepers were taken into custody on Saturday as the LPG distributors association threatened to suspend the business from May 30 if the ongoing campaign against decanting was not stopped.
The City District Government Lahore (CDGL) authorities are determined to take the operation to its logical end notwithstanding the strike threats.
At least 372 arrests related with the unlawful business have been made since Thursday (May 24) when the CDGL launched a drive against LPG decanting.
Under the law, the LPG can be used for domestic purposes and its use in automobiles is considered dangerous. However, almost all of around 60,000 two-stroke rickshaws have been fuelled with the liquefied petroleum gas for years. While many pick-ups doing school duties are also running on this fuel.
As there are no proper LPG filling stations in the city, the facility is being provided by decanting traders doing their hazardous business in every nook and corner of the city, putting precious lives of innocent citizens at risk.
According to an estimate, there are well 2,500 shopkeepers involved in this business in the provincial metropolis.
As the activity has been resulting in fatal incidents, the CDGL many a time launched operation against it. But each time, it had to be stopped under political expediency when the traders and rickshaw drivers would threaten to go on strike.
Under the Lahore High Court directions, the city has to be cleared of two-stroke wheelers causing most of the air and noise pollution by Dec 31, 2007, the CDGL authorities are resolute to make the operation successful this time for forcing the rickshaw owners to take their vehicles out of the city by cutting their fuel supplies.
Committees formed at town level to curb the decanting business on Saturday arrested 124 more shopkeepers.
Eighteen of them were held in Data Gunj Bakhsh Town, seven in Samanabad, 13 in Shalimar, four each in Wagah and Gulberg, 23 in Aziz Bhatti, 26 in Ravi, 15 in Iqbal and 14 in Nishtar Town.
DISTRIBUTORS: The LPG Distributors Association has threatened suspension of business from May 30 if the ongoing campaign against decanting of liquefied petroleum gas is not stopped immediately.
The decision was taken at a meeting of the association held here on Saturday with Irfan Khokhar in the chair.
Mr Khokhar alleged the city district government launched the anti-decanting campaign without taking the association into confidence, during which more than 300 shops had been closed on charges of decanting and many more were facing closure threat.