Hyderabad: City sitting on a gas bomb?

Hyderabad: The LPG and CNG-based autos are posing a threat to people as the Transport department has failed to implement the law which mandates change of a kit, which is placed below seats of passengers, every three years.

The department started fixing LPG kits in autos in 1999 after the State Pollution Control Board suggested to the government to allow registration of autos only if they are run on gas to avoid pollution.

Later, the government introduced CNG in 2010. According to officials, there were petrol autos till 2013, but since then no autos are recognised if they are run on petrol. According to an estimate, there are 9.5 lakh autos running on LPG/CNG in the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation limits. As per provisions of the Gas Cylinder Rules 2004, rule 35 prescribes periodic examination and testing of cylinders. As per the rules, CNG vehicles should be tested once every three years. The authorities should not issue fitness certificates and permits if the vehicles do not undergo safety tests periodically.

After a case was filed in the State Human Rights Commission in 2018, it issued notices to the Transport department, the Chief Controller of Explosives, Nagpur (Maharashtra), the Civil Supplies department, directing authorities to take action against those who don't replace the gas kits. The officials maintain that that it was the duty of the Transport department to conducts the tests. The commission was informed that the guidelines were being implemented in Delhi and Mumbai, Thiruvananthapuram and Bengaluru but not in the Telugu States.

As per rules, the RTA authorities should not issue a fitness certificate if autos do not change the kit. But, sources said, authorities hardly check gas kits; they are continuing for many years. The kits costs less than Rs 2,000, which is not a big amount when lives are taken into consideration. Once a Shirdi-bound bus had caught fire because of a gas leak killing two and injuring many. Telangana Auto and Motor Welfare Union general secretary M Dayanand says that the kits are placed under the seats of passengers. If the kits are not changed every three years, they get heated and gas leaks resulting in explosion. "Who will be responsible if some untoward incident happens as a result of negligence of auto rickshaw drivers and authorities. Prevention is better than cure. Officials should act tough on errant auto drivers, who are posing a threat to the citizens," he says.