Shah Alam Nur :
Thousands of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) powered vehicles operating with run-down cylinders are endangering the lives of both passengers and drivers.
As per rules of the Rupantarita Prakritik Gas Company Limited (RPGCL), the pressure check of CNG cylinders in every five years is mandatory though most of the car owners ignore it.
“Most vehicle owners after conversion think they can now enjoy the cheap environment friendly fuel forever. But most of them are not aware that a cylinder requires retesting in every five years for safety and other maintenance,” Shafiul Azam, Director (Operations), Rupantorito Prakritik Gas Company Ltd (RPGCL) told The New Nation on Wednesday.
He said, orders for pressure check are few though it is mandatory for all CNG cylinder users.
He said, accidents could take place anytime if the car owners overlook pressure check at a cost of Tk 3,500 only.
“The situation is very bad for buses and trucks, as low quality cylinders are used,” he said
He said, not only the cylinders, but also the kit bulbs are also important for cylinder safety.
Nazmul Zaman, Senior Sales Executive of Navana CNG, said, in absence of regular monitoring and inspection by the RPGCL, a good number of unauthorised conversion workshops installed low-cost oxygen cylinders in buses and trucks, which might blast anytime under imbalanced pressure.
He said, a CNG cylinder can withstand over 4,000 psi pressures during refuelling while an oxygen cylinder can only bear 3000 psi pressure.
He said that many of the public buses and trucks were using low-cost cylinders available with unauthorised conversion centres.
The country has a total of 200 authorised CNG conversion centres across the country, and over three dozen unauthorised conversion centres in the city.
Except a few, most of the workshops are under-equipped and mechanics are not trained as stipulated in the conditions set by the licensing authorities.
Country’s first conversion workshop was established by RPGCL in 1998 as a model at Joarsahara in the city. In the beginning, government vehicles only were converted.
From the year 2001 private businesses were invited in the CNG conversion sector. Gradually private vehicle owners started showing interest in the cheap fuel.
Around one million private vehicles were converted in the early period from 2001 to 2015. Cylinders of the vehicles already exceeding five years of operation need retesting and they belong to the most risky group.
Thousands of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) powered vehicles operating with run-down cylinders are endangering the lives of both passengers and drivers.
As per rules of the Rupantarita Prakritik Gas Company Limited (RPGCL), the pressure check of CNG cylinders in every five years is mandatory though most of the car owners ignore it.
“Most vehicle owners after conversion think they can now enjoy the cheap environment friendly fuel forever. But most of them are not aware that a cylinder requires retesting in every five years for safety and other maintenance,” Shafiul Azam, Director (Operations), Rupantorito Prakritik Gas Company Ltd (RPGCL) told The New Nation on Wednesday.
He said, orders for pressure check are few though it is mandatory for all CNG cylinder users.
He said, accidents could take place anytime if the car owners overlook pressure check at a cost of Tk 3,500 only.
“The situation is very bad for buses and trucks, as low quality cylinders are used,” he said
He said, not only the cylinders, but also the kit bulbs are also important for cylinder safety.
Nazmul Zaman, Senior Sales Executive of Navana CNG, said, in absence of regular monitoring and inspection by the RPGCL, a good number of unauthorised conversion workshops installed low-cost oxygen cylinders in buses and trucks, which might blast anytime under imbalanced pressure.
He said, a CNG cylinder can withstand over 4,000 psi pressures during refuelling while an oxygen cylinder can only bear 3000 psi pressure.
He said that many of the public buses and trucks were using low-cost cylinders available with unauthorised conversion centres.
The country has a total of 200 authorised CNG conversion centres across the country, and over three dozen unauthorised conversion centres in the city.
Except a few, most of the workshops are under-equipped and mechanics are not trained as stipulated in the conditions set by the licensing authorities.
Country’s first conversion workshop was established by RPGCL in 1998 as a model at Joarsahara in the city. In the beginning, government vehicles only were converted.
From the year 2001 private businesses were invited in the CNG conversion sector. Gradually private vehicle owners started showing interest in the cheap fuel.
Around one million private vehicles were converted in the early period from 2001 to 2015. Cylinders of the vehicles already exceeding five years of operation need retesting and they belong to the most risky group.
