EDITORIAL: A horrific gas cylinder explosion in Multan claimed nine lives in the early hours of Tuesday morning. According to reports, a woman on the top floor of a three-storey building had started making Sehri when the blast occurred, causing the roof to collapse.
That left a man and his son dead. In a shocking tragedy in an adjacent single-storey house, on which most of debris fell, seven people of a family died and two others suffered critical injuries. The same day in Rawalpindi, four separate gas explosions, triggered by gas leakages, killed two minor siblings — a boy and a girl — while seven people suffered burn injuries.
Sadly, such incidents have been occurring in all cities with alarming frequency. Last January in Lahore, two gas cylinder blasts killed four children and injured two others along with a man. A month before that in Karachi, gas cylinders were being unloaded at a shop when one of them caught fire, resulting in a chain reaction in other containers that caused collapse of a residential building. Three people died and 17 sustained critical wounds in that blast.
A while ago, a similar incident in a Lahore residential neighbourhood caused several fatalities. After each such tragic incident government high-ups, as in the present instance, issue statements expressing heartfelt sympathies to the bereaved families. Soon afterwards, it is business as usual. This is why such awful incidents keep happening.
All the aforementioned cases highlight the need for foolproof safety measures. A key issue is the substandard quality of cylinders. Often times, they have leaky nozzles, which make the gas containers ticking bombs. Indeed, the authorities have been launching periodic awareness campaigns, informing the public not to strike a match stick or switch on an electric light in the event of gas smell. However, the gas now cylinders contain is LPG, which is said to be odourless. Those using it for cooking or heating purposes have no way of detecting a leakage.
It is imperative therefore only those cylinders that meet approved standards are marketed. Towards that end, manufacturing companies ought to be made to adhere to the prescribed ISO standards. Equally important, regular inspections should be conducted to see to it that the filling facilities are not located in residential or crowded commercial areas.
The responsibility to implement all these precautionary measures falls squarely on the shoulders of officials in the relevant government departments. Given the prevailing state of affairs, they can be expected to take necessary action only if and when their political superiors maintain strict vigilance — a crucial element in ensuring safety.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024
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