The CNG cylinder burst incidents are emerging as the second largest killer after terrorism in Pakistan and during last few years dozens had been killed in such incidents. The Saturday gruesome incidents in Mangowal of district Gujrat, Punjab claimed 17 lives including school-going children and their teacher while 8 other children were injured in the incident. The incident was occurred due to the burst of the CNG cylinder blast.
Over 70 percent commuters and private schools in the country have been diverted to economical fuel CNG, which not only exploiting the natural resource, but also playing with the lives of the people.
According to a news report during 2011, the gas cylinder blasts in public transport claimed the lives of 2000 people, which was even higher than those killed in drone attacks carried out by the United States in that year.
One of the CNG cylinder blasts was occurred on December 11, 2011 in Vehari, Punjab which took away the lives of 18 passengers. The victims were included four children, five women while 11 sustained severe injuries.
Another such kind of incident was occurred in Khairpur (Sindh) in which 14 persons mostly labourers were killed. In another incident, a newly married couple was also killed in Nowshera, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The civil society apprehends that the death toll in such incidents could be increased if government failed to take effective measures to control gas cylinder blasts in public vehicles by ensuing proper safety and maintaining quality standards.
Over 70 percent of the public vehicles were plying on compressed natural gas (CNG) most of which had substandard gas cylinders. According to consumers association, the natural resource of gas is being exploited in the benefit of either CNG sector in shape of CNG station owners and transporters. Due to the mushroom growth of CNG stations, the country is moving towards energy crisis and industrial workers have been rendered unemployed while on the other hand transporters are making fortunes by using the economic fuel at the expense of the commuters.
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