IN the latest incident of gas pipeline explosions, a man and his wife were roasted alive and 6 others, including three women and a minor boy, sustained burn injuries in a Beparipara flat at Uttarkhan in the city on Saturday. Conditions of the six were stated to be critical. They were the inmates of ground-floor of a two-storey building. Most of the victims were garment workers and one of them was a rickshaw puller. The Fire Service and Civil Defence (FSCD) officials said the fire broke out following a leakage in the gas pipeline. Earlier on August 10, 10 people, including six of a family, were injured in an explosion in a water tank. Five of the family died later.
What is alarming is that, incidents of gas cylinder, gas pipeline and septic tank explosions have been increasing day by day. Particularly, the gas related accidents have become almost frequent. But the authorities concerned including Titas Gas Distribution Company Limited and Department of Explosive under the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources do not give importance to it. In general, the government high-ups also do not think about of it if any big incident occurrs.
The FSCD authorities said most of the explosions occur due to lack of awareness of people. We do agree with it. But the other reasons identified by FSCD are also very serious. These are: use of substandard and date-expired gas cylinders, old pipelines and illegal gas connections by the non-professionals. Different newspapers have reported that, some gas pipelines of Titas in the capital are about 60/70 years old but have not yet been changed.
We are also surprised how substandard and low category gas cylinders are being sold in the open market by getting nods from the Department of Explosives. This department is solely responsible for commercial use of gas and explosive products. The faulty cylinders could be termed as highly-destructive bombs when filled with gas.
Of course, the consumers need awareness to keep secure their gas connections. The government also should enact laws disallowing use of defective or lower category gas cylinders, and compel all gas marketing companies, including Titas, to ensure that gas pipelines don’t have any leakages.
