Lahore residents’ demand for Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) cylinders has increased due to gas shortage, resulting in suppliers charging higher prices, a news outlet reported on Monday.
According to the report, gas shortage is forcing the residents of Lahore to rely on expensive and in some cases life-threatening alternatives.
A 4 kg LPG cylinder is retailing at Rs 1,200 in the city. The demand has also given rise to a problem that carries a great potential risk – substandard gas cylinders.
“Incidents of cylinder gas explosions in the Punjab are growing due to substandard cylinders,” the news outlet quoted LPG Distributors Association Pakistan Chairman Irfan Khokhar as saying.
“The association wrote several letters to the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) after which they cracked down on the issue. However, it is lamentable that even after strict measures, the production of substandard gas cylinders has once again resumed. In the past few years, over 7,000 innocent people have lost their lives due to faulty gas cylinders in the country and the administration is turning a blind eye to the issue in Punjab.”
The usage of substandard cylinders is not just restricted to household use. LPG cylinders are used in the abundant amount of rickshaws in the city and public transport like buses and vans putting the hundreds of commuters who use these modes of transport at a high risk.
