Punjab Minister for Industries, Commerce and Investment (IC&I) Sheikh Allauddin on Tuesday said all legal and administrative measures would be ensured to secure precious lives of workers from the substandard boilers installed in factories and industrial units across the province.
He expressed these views while chairing a meeting held at the civil secretariat.
IC&I Secretary Muhammad Mujtaba Piracha, Director General Khalid Saleem and other officers also attended the meeting. The minister was briefed on the functions, legal framework and powers of the department and statistics about the boilers installed in Punjab. The meeting was informed that presently total 4192 boilers were surveyed in Punjab, out of which 393 were found illegal, 3122 were functional, 547 idle and 523 were closed.
Taking action against illegal boilers, 214 were sealed, 79 were registered or inspected, 85 units were dislocated or factory was closed while 15 were under registration till November 25, 2016. A breakup showed that Lahore region consisted of 1070, Faisalabad 568, Rawalpindi 449, Gujranwala 355, Sargodha 464, Multan 601 and Bahawalpur 162 boilers in the region.
The minister directed the department to accelerate the ongoing campaign for regular inspection of boilers and ensure safety measures in each industrial unit of Punjab. He assured that special efforts would be made to get the proposed Punjab Boilers and Pressure Vessels Amendment Bill 2016 approved from the cabinet at the earliest.
Describing salient features of the proposed bill, the meeting was told that the bill might enable inspection of boilers and pressure vessels through third party, effective regulatory measures against illegal use of boilers, enhancement of penalties against violators, composition of Punjab Boilers and Pressure Vessels Safety Board and Ad-hoc Technical Committee, categorisation of different pressure vessels for inspection and registration and provides a base for framing of adequate rules and regulations in respect of pressure vessels.