Despite the mammoth growth of compressed natural gas (CNG) consumption by the auto sector during the past decade, the government and investors have failed to pay attention to training the work force to cope with emergencies at CNG stations, thereby posing a huge risk to human life.
Pakistan has become the first country in Asia and third in the world after Argentina and Brazil, in terms of having over 3,000 CNG stations. Despite huge investments, there is no exclusive training institution in the country for training of workers at CNG stations. Rawalpindi and Islamabad have a large number of CNG stations.
However, none of the stations have trained workers, as there is no technical institute that can provide training to CNG stations workers on how to operate the equipment, posing an acute risk to the people. The twin cities have 250 CNG stations. Most of these stations are situated near, or in, residential areas, thereby, posing a serious risk to human life and nearby property.
As a majority of these filling stations are manned by untrained workers operating sophisticated equipment, according to a survey conducted of different gas stations by Pakistan Today. Untrained staff was observed operating most CNG dispensers, with little knowledge of the proposed safety measures. The owners of CNG stations exploit the unemployed youth and pay minimum wages for hiring their services.
Many workers claim that owners of CNG stations deduct salaries in case of absence from duty or illness. Ironically, officials of the labour departments are silent over such blatant exploitation. In the absence of trained and educated staff, these CNG stations are exposed to the threat of accidents, which would not only affect the workers but also the customers and the people residing in the vicinity.
Under the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) rules and regulations, a person needs to get three months training and have passed matriculation examinations before joining any CNG station. But owing to the negligence of OGRA, most of the stations are violating the rules openly. OGRA officials seldom visit gas stations to ascertain whether the safety measures are being followed, thus allowing the majority of gas stations to be operated by unskilled workers.
A worker at a CNG station said an OGRA inspector visited the CNG station after three months, giving the operators ample opportunity to violate the laid rules and regulations. In most cases, owing to the carelessness of the management at gas outlets, gas leakages often led to cylinders exploding, he said. Many CNG stations are located in the residential areas of the city, especially in Rawalpindi, including the Tulsa Chowk, Bakra Mandi, Khayaban-e-Sir Syed, Chungi 22, Tench Bhatta, Muslim Town, Adiyala Road and Saidpur Road, posing not only a threat to the lives of motorists, but also to the residents.
The CNG stations trend in Pakistan started in late 1980s when Hydrocarbon Development Institute of Pakistan (HIDP) set up two CNG filling stations in Karachi and Islamabad. Residents of the twin cities demanded the government shift the CNG station, from residential localities, and to impose a ban on the installation of CNG outlets in such areas in the future. Motorists said the government needed to take effective steps for providing training to the employees of CNG stations.
Another hazard of having CNG stations in residential areas is that it leads to traffic jams, which have now become routine and are making the lives of the area’s resident’s miserable.
