Day by day, the incidents of LPG cylinders bursting all over Punjab, including Lahore, are increasing (Photo: Express News).
Lahore: Incidents of LPG cylinder bursting are increasing in Punjab, while the administration’s indifference to such incidents has become a bane for the people.
LPG is being sold openly in the province without safety measures. The district administration gave a ‘license to kill’ to the LPG shopkeepers. There are about 7,000 LPG shops in the provincial capital Lahore alone, where the shopkeepers have not taken any safety measures and are selling openly.
In the last month and a half, 25 people have been killed and more than 40 injured due to cylinder explosions in Lahore, Multan, Jhang, Sheikhupora, Faisalabad, Chiniot. Due to the negligence of OGRA and the district administration, the incidents of LPG cylinder bursting started increasing day by day in Punjab including Lahore.
Hundreds of people have lost their lives and hundreds have been disabled for life due to the explosion of substandard LPG cylinders in the province. More than 90 percent of LPG vendors across Punjab, including Lahore, do not have licenses and OGRA has given its powers to district administrations to save their lives. The district administration could not give license to the LPG sellers but started charging them monthly.
According to the report of Rescue 1122, a total of 328 incidents of cylinder explosions and fires took place across Punjab including Lahore in 2 years, in which 137 people lost their lives. More than 140 people were injured and around 80 people suffered physical disabilities.
The people of Punjab, including Lahore, are facing bursting of cylinders on the one hand and on the other hand, they are also forced to buy the most expensive LPG. LPG is not available anywhere in the province at the official price. The shopkeepers go on strike as soon as action is taken against those who sell expensive LPG. Meanwhile, the police along with the district administration also raid the houses while the action against the mafia is to the extent of fines.
The shopkeepers say that the police and the district administration collect monthly from the LPG sellers. The police caught him and left him in the car in another square. Business runs only together.
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