CDGL spokesman says 30 shops sealed so far

Decanting continues unchecked

LAHORE

Illegal and unauthorised decanting of LPG is going on fearlessly right under the nose of City District Government Lahore (CDGL), which is unable to take stern action against this hazardous act owing to reasons best known to senior management.

Decanting is an act in which Liquid Petroleum Gas (LPG) is transferred to a cylinder from another cylinder. Basically, shopkeepers involved in this business got agencies of different LPG companies and LPG gas in different sizes of cylinders. Later, these shopkeepers transfer LPG gas to small cylinders, which is an illegal act and can be proved hazardous.

Recently, the Punjab government has directed all the district governments across the province to stop decanting and take strict action against those who are involved in this business. However, contrarily, hundreds of LPG shops are actively involved in decanting and selling of LPG to rickshaws as well as for household use.

Though decanting is a dangerous act, a very large number of citizens  get their gas cylinders filled through these shops and this number double fold in winter when gas load management starts.

Similarly, over 60 percent of four stroke rickshaws and a large number of CNG rickshaws plying on city roads use LPG as primary fuel. They have installed LPG kits in their rickshaws and get LPG gas in small cylinders for their rickshaws from these decanting shops.

Localities at and around Mozang Chungi, Lytton Road, Mcleod Road, Bund Road, Garhi Shahu, Opposite Jinnah hospital, Kottha Pind (Faisal Town), Shadiwal Road (Johar Town), Shalimar Link road, GT Road, Baghrian road (Green Town), Ghazi Road and Chauburji are some of the specific areas where one can find LPG shops openly doing decanting.

A senior CDGL official said according to Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) Ordinance, refilling of LNG cylinder is illegal and the federal and provincial governments have strictly instructed the district governments and police to end illegal business of gas refilling. He said decanting of cylinders was a very dangerous act in congested areas and endangers the lives and properties of the citizens.

Several rickshaw owners and common citizens alleged that the only impact of the decision of closing down decanting shop is that the price of LPG goes up. They said crackdown on LPG sellers was not a new thing but the business was continuing without any hurdle.

It may be noted here that many people had lost lives in gas cylinder blasts while refilling. Though the CDGL and police had filed cases against the LPG sellers but no further action has been taken so far.

Several citizens also questioned the standard of gas cylinders being sold to public as it is reported that many LPG sellers sell local made low quality cylinders to the public. Waseem Khan, a LPG seller said local made cylinders are available in 5kg, 11kg, 15kg, 27kg and 47kg capacity and the markets are flooded with them.

Shehzad Ahmed, a resident of Green Town, said he is a street vendor and sells fried items in local market and used to get his 5kg gas cylinder filled every day from a local decanter.

He said the shopkeeper had increased rate of gas by Rs50 per kg after the recent decision. The spokesman for CDGL told The News that decanting was an illegal act and CDGL had already launched a crackdown on it. He said District Officer Civil Defence had recently sealed 30 decanting shops in different city areas. He said the CDGL would take every step to stop this illegal and hazardous business.