Cylinder blasts panick users
Syed Shemul Parvez :
Gas cylinders, which are one of the essentials that human everyday need, are exploding almost regularly in the residences as well as CNG-powered vehicles across the country.
Apart from houses, now footpath tea shops are also using gas cylinders which also see blasts.
The number of casualties in these explosions is increasing at an alarming rate. Accident investigation sources say that expired gas cylinders are the main cause of these explosions.
Most of the accidents occur due to expired cylinders of various gases including CNG, LPG, Oxygen, Ammonia, Nitrogen and Helium. Along with that, the fake cylinder has been added cautionary again.
Experts said, there are no proper rules in using of these cylinders. No one obeys the rules.
Sources said at least 80 people were killed and 100 more seriously injured in several cylinder gas blast incidents across the country including the capital in last five months.
At least 23,790 fire incidents, including 83 cylinder explosions, occurred across the country in the last nine months of the year (2023), said the Fire Service and Civil Defense.
In 2022, there were 24102 fire incidents across the country. Among them, there were 94 explosions and 795 gas supply line fires. 30 people were injured and 1 died in the gas cylinder fire incident. But the real picture is much more than that.
In 2021, there were 894 gas cylinder explosion accidents in the country, that is, an average of more than two accidents per day. In 2020, the number of accidents increased to 957.
At least 10 people lost their lives in these accidents. 107 people were injured. The financial loss is about TK 4 crore.
In 2019, according to the statistics of Fire Service and Civil Defense, 25 people lost their lives and 69 people were injured in 118 gas cylinder explosions in the country.
Experts say that the use of these dangerous cylinders has increased at an alarming rate, causing explosions and fires in cars and houses. As the use of expired and fake gas cylinders has increased, many people do not know how to use the cylinders.
Even with such unawareness of the users, each cylinder has become a ‘silent bomb’.
They also said that the risk of explosion in LPG cylinders is increasing due to illegal gas filling or cross filling from large cylinders to small cylinders.
The stoves manufactured in the local market are not of good quality.
These stoves start to emit gas after using for some time. As a result, there is a risk of cylinder explosion and accident.
On 24 June 2023, eight people were killed and several others injured as a cylinder of an ambulance exploded in Faridpur.
The ambulance bursts into flames as its gas cylinder went off after hitting the roadside railings of Dhaka-Mawa-Bhanga Expressway in Maligram area under Bhanga upazila of the district.
On 27 September, four people injured in a gas cylinder explosion at a house in Narayanganj’s Araihazar died at different times while undergoing treatment at Sheikh Hasina National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery in Dhaka.
On December 11, the death toll in a gas pipe explosion that took place at a petrol pump in the capital’s Mohakhali on December 6, reached four.
On December 20, at least three people, including a mother and daughter, were killed due to a gas cylinder blast at a residence of Keraniganj.
A pedestrian named Shohag Khan told The New Nation that the incident of Churihatta fire in Chawkbazar of Old Dhaka was due to the use of cylinders everywhere including the footpath. He complains that a major accident can happen at any moment.
None even in the administration supervises the matter, he said.
When asked about this, Mohammad Naib Ali, Chief Explosives Inspector of Explosives Department, said that an expired cylinder is more dangerous than a bomb.
Knowing this, we are not checking the gas cylinder regularly. As a result, we don’t know anything about their condition. As a result, the public is at risk. That is why we are trying to make people aware in various ways.
In this regard, the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources said that the real cause of the explosion is not properly known to the users. So in order to avoid accidents, people have to know the correct rules for using cylinders.
To avoid accidents, cylinders should not be placed near the stove or fire. Cylinders should not be heated to expel excess gas.
After cooking, the switch of the both stove and LPG cylinder regulator must be closed.
The stove should be placed at least six inches above the cylinder.
A regulator compatible with the bulb must be used. It is better to open the doors and windows of the room half an hour before cooking.
