Ensuring safety standards at CNG stations

That all is not well with the functioning of the compressed natural gas outlets in the country should become evident from a Recorder Report appearing on November 14. Quoting Malik Khuda Buksh, Chairman of CNG Station Owners Association of Pakistan (CNGSOAP), the report has drawn attention to, at least, two disconcerting developments.
One of them relates to the use of some defective equipment like 'storage cylinder' at certain CNG stations that resulted in their sealing by the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority. The other one has, understandably, caused considerable concern to the CNGSOAP, with proliferation of illegal roadside CNG conversion workshops.
In so far as the defective equipment are concerned, they have been identified as storage cylinders imported with ISO 9809-2/2000 marking, as against storage cylinders marked ISO 9809-1/1999 that had been allowed by the OGRA. Seemingly, perturbed by this sordid turn in the situation, as revealed by Malik Khuda Buksh, the CNGSOAP executive committee in a meeting decided to write a letter to the Austrian company, manufacturing the items and to apprise them of the serious problems it has caused to CNG station owners.
The meeting decided to ask the firm to replace its defective equipment installed at all of the 77 stations across the country, failing which legal action would be taken against it for business losses and failure to fulfil safety standards. Stress, in this regard, was laid on speedy action, so that supply of CNG was not disrupted.
Significantly, the CNGSOAP also resolved to request the federal government to take suitable measures and ensure against manipulation of prices of cascade cylinder brands by hoarders. In the meantime, the association is stated to have contacted the local agents of the Austrian firm, and requested them immediately to remove all cylinders with ISO 9809-2/2000 marking from the market and ask their principals to stop supply of such equipment against the orders placed with them.
The local agents, on their part, are stated to have asked their supplier immediately to replace defective cylinders with the standardised cylinders conforming to the CNG rules. In so far as the problem arising from the existence of illegal roadside CNG conversion workshops is concerned, understandable should the Association President's suggestion for the regulatory authority to show no leniency in handling their case. For, as he pointed out, they have been operating without any licence and without scruple about safety guidelines, thereby posing serious threat to the consumers too.
Viewed in this perspective the CNGSOAP decision to demand a ban on illegal roadside conversion workshops, along with immediate strict action against them in order to avert likely accidents threatening life and property of CNG vehicle owners.
More to this, the association also recommended that storage cascade cylinders should be imported directly by the station owners at the time of importing CNG equipment and compressors with a view to ensuring safety standards, while also eliminating chances of manipulation of prices. Be that as it may, one is apt to be intrigued by the very availability of sub-standard and defective CNG storage cylinders in the local market, and their installation in such a large number of CNG stations.
All in all, something seems to be seriously missing somewhere in this saddening affair. From all indications Ogra will appear to have remained vigilant in the matter as it is stated to have sealed the CNG stations found using the defective cylinders.