Management of LP cylinders
Very day, we see news of a CNG-driven vehicle or Liquefied Petroleum (LP) cylinder used in households bursting and most recently, the explosion that rocked at the Di-Ammonium Phosphate (DAP) plant in Chittagong that caused release of toxic substances into the surrounding areas and atmosphere. In each of these incidences, whether great or small, we find a common thread and i.e. the lack of adherence to safety protocols and procedures. While the BCIC probe committee will submit its report to relevant authorities, the adverse impact of the accident is not lost upon anyone. We may have a situation where there is a real possibility of public hazard as ammonia-affected water may flow into the Karnaphuli River unhindered.
Currently, it is the Department of Explosives that is entrusted with the job of issuing licenses to companies that are responsible for installing facilities that store hazardous and flammable gas (this includes CNG and LP). Is it remotely feasible for that department alone to oversee this gigantic task? Going by what has been reported in the press recently, the government is embarking on a major move to introduce LPG at household level. This is in line with the government's plan for primary fuel diversification and there are plans also to introduce LPG gas stations for automobiles, in an effort to reduce the dependence on CNG (that is produced from our steadily depleting natural gas reserves). The Energy and Mineral Resources Division (EMRD) under the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources (MPEMR) has prepared the first-ever policy guidelines for installing re-fuelling stations and their maintenance. Again, the Department of Explosives will issue licenses to auto-gas station and conversion workshops. Indeed, the new policy makes it mandatory for license seekers to get permission from the Department of Explosives prior to getting an approval for the setting up of a re-fuelling station and/or conversion workshop.
Now if we go by what is stated in the policy, the distance between auto-gas refueling stations and workshops from one to another should be at least 1km away in city corporation and district town areas, while it should be at least 2km for other areas. Even if the policy is strictly adhered to, and we assume that the LPG gas implementation policy timeline remains effective, we are looking at hundreds of new re-fuelling stations and workshops coming up in the next 12 months. Looking beyond the LPG dispensing points, we have the issue of storage facilities and their upkeep are another story altogether. Media reported on August 20, 2016 that some 300 LP gas cylinders exploded at the Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) storage facility in Bogra that prompted authorities to order BPC to recheck the safety on LP gas cylinders, and as we understand it, there are some 500,000 cylinders in BPC inventory.
When we take into account the total number of LP gas cylinders in the country, the rough estimate is about two million cylinders. The import, filling and transportation of LP gas by state and non-state entities is done after obtaining requisite licenses from the Department of Explosives. These licenses are obtained and renewed on the basis of terms and conditions laid out under LPG Rules 2004 of the Explosive Act, 1884. Given that these high pressure cylinders are exploding on and off at household, commercial and industrial levels, we obviously have a quality assurance problem. The gas used in these cylinders are flammable, and with LPG – highly flammable. When we introduce mass distribution of LPG (since policy dictates that 70 percent of the population will be brought under LPG consumption over the next five years), we need to take a closer scrutiny at the safety procedures involved here.
The DAP plant incident may have caught the big headlines, but we should be equally worried about the safety of LPG cylinders that will connect millions of household stoves in the foreseeable future. A typical LP gas cylinder must be regularly checked for safety. Again, the handling of these cylinders during movement and storage requires certain safety procedures to be followed, which are obviously not being followed because otherwise we probably wouldn't have had to experience the Bogra blast that caused three casualties and injured some 13 other individuals. And if authorities actually move to transplant CNG with LPG cylinders, the number of cylinders will jump by a few hundred thousand again.
What all this points to is this: there is the need of a greatly expanded regulatory body whose sole job will be to check that safety measures on cylinders. Whether this will be the current Department of Explosives or another department is a question best left to policymakers. But given the huge volume of cylinders that will flood the market in the next three to five years, can we remain complacent on the issue of safety?
The writer is Assistant Editor, The Daily Star.
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