Unsafe gas cylinders

Before any major accidents happen, the LP Gas Ltd has to scrap the existing date-expired cylinders immediately on a priority basis

It is very disconcerting to note that the state-owned company LP Gas Ltd is providing cooking gas to households, using about half of its total cylinders that are date-expired. In a country where we often hear about the gas cylinder explosions, especially on roads in gas-run vehicles and quite often with fatality records, the distribution of gas through these date-expired cylinders is posing a serious threat to safety of the users. 
It would not be an overstatement to say that in general gas users in Bangladesh are often ignorant about the fact that the iron-made cylinders can pose any danger for them. Still they are not aware about the reality that these cylinders can be date-expired and that the insertion pressure for bottling gas into them could be faulty. But it obviously does not allow the state-owned company to distribute gas in unsafe cylinders in an unsafe way.    
In fact, last Saturday, 300 such age-old and worn-out cylinders exploded in the state-owned company’s Bogra depot and triggered concern among the spectrum of people about this unwelcome phenomenon. On examination it was found that these cylinders could not withstand the pressure from the gas inside. If these cylinders exploded in the kitchens of households, there surely would have been casualties and the state-owned company would have to bear its responsibility. And there is no guarantee that the date-expired cylinders that the LP Gas Ltd is using would not cause any fatal accidents.  
According to a report published in this newspaper yesterday the LP Gas Ltd uses a total of 432,000 cylinders to provide gas and more than 200,000 cylinders are over 20 years old when the international safety standard is that a cylinder cannot be used after 15 years of its manufacture. After that period, the cylinder has to be scrapped. But this standard is not followed in Bangladesh. The Independent report also mentions that the LP Gas Ltd does not have any defined policy or guidelines for conducting its distribution activities. Many attribute that this absence of a policy as well as a marked lack of awareness among the consumers is responsible for the distribution of gas in date-expired cylinders. 
Now before any major accident happen, the LP Gas Ltd has to scrap the existing date-expired cylinders immediately on a priority basis, forming a policy or a set of guidelines by experts in the relevant field. The government is mulling for quite some time now that it would stop cooking gas distribution through pipes and will use cylinders everywhere including the capital. If it actually happens, with the current condition of cylinders, the step may cause disaster. 

 

Unsafe gas cylinders

Before any major accidents happen, the LP Gas Ltd has to scrap the existing date-expired cylinders immediately on a priority basis

It is very disconcerting to note that the state-owned company LP Gas Ltd is providing cooking gas to households, using about half of its total cylinders that are date-expired. In a country where we often hear about the gas cylinder explosions, especially on roads in gas-run vehicles and quite often with fatality records, the distribution of gas through these date-expired cylinders is posing a serious threat to safety of the users. It would not be an overstatement to say that in general gas users in Bangladesh are often ignorant about the fact that the iron-made cylinders can pose any danger for them. Still they are not aware about the reality that these cylinders can be date-expired and that the insertion pressure for bottling gas into them could be faulty. But it obviously does not allow the state-owned company to distribute gas in unsafe cylinders in an unsafe way. In fact, last Saturday, 300 such age-old and worn-out cylinders exploded in the state-owned companys Bogra depot and triggered concern among the spectrum of people about this unwelcome phenomenon. On examination it was found that these cylinders could not withstand the pressure from the gas inside. If these cylinders exploded in the kitchens of households, there surely would have been casualties and the state-owned company would have to bear its responsibility. And there is no guarantee that the date-expired cylinders that the LP Gas Ltd is using would not cause any fatal accidents. According to a report published in this newspaper yesterday the LP Gas Ltd uses a total of 432,000 cylinders to provide gas and more than 200,000 cylinders are over 20 years old when the international safety standard is that a cylinder cannot be used after 15 years of its manufacture. After that period, the cylinder has to be scrapped. But this standard is not followed in Bangladesh. The Independent report also mentions that the LP Gas Ltd does not have any defined policy or guidelines for conducting its distribution activities. Many attribute that this absence of a policy as well as a marked lack of awareness among the consumers is responsible for the distribution of gas in date-expired cylinders. Now before any major accident happen, the LP Gas Ltd has to scrap the existing date-expired cylinders immediately on a priority basis, forming a policy or a set of guidelines by experts in the relevant field. The government is mulling for quite some time now that it would stop cooking gas distribution through pipes and will use cylinders everywhere including the capital. If it actually happens, with the current condition of cylinders, the step may cause disaster.