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No check on unauthorised use of gas by vehicles

BHUBANESWAR: Sabita Pani, a housewife in VSS Nagar locality of the city, on Tuesday was furious when her son’s school pick-up van operator refused to switch over from LPG gas fuel to petrol despite repeated requests from her. Ms. Pani, who was apprehensive on safety aspects, decided to drop her son at school on her own.

In Sahid Nagar area, Sulekha Tripathy, another housewife, who too is not happy with the cooking gas fuel, has already been doing the job for a fortnight now. These two women were lucky that they are not working.

But for working parents in the city, there is no other option but to continue with the risky state of affairs. Many school pick-up vans in the city have been running on LPG cylinders throwing safety norms to wind.

The authorities too admit the fact. The Transport Department sources say not more than 150 vehicles are granted licence to use gas whereas more than 5000 vehicles are being operated in Bhubaneswar and surrounding semi-urban centres. “We have only two authorised centres where gas kits can be fitted into four wheelers or three wheelers.

For which, they will have to obtain certificates from us,” says Regional Transport Officer Braja Kishore Senapati.

Mr. Senapati says if anybody is found to be violating norms, he will be fined Rs. 5,000 under Section 192 of Motor Vehicle Act.

“We have been detecting a large number of such violations inside the capital city region. It is not possible to track every passing vehicle, which is unauthorisedly run by LPG gas.

The violation only comes to the light during checking,” the RTO says.

Use of cooking gas in four wheelers as fuel started picking up. But the State government granted setting up first gas filling station of the State here only two months ago. It implied more than 50 per cent of vans being run on gas are unauthorised.

“Though it is a matter of concern for everybody as gas kit is fitted into vehicles by incompetent hands, but the biggest concern is use of gas in vans for dropping children at their schools. It is time for the authorities to wake up to the menace,” says Ms. Pani.

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