Govt apathy puts lives of people in danger
KATHMANDU:
Subcommittee under Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Legislature Parliament has blamed Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) for promoting irregularities in the gas business.
Though NOC is the authority to check all aspects of bottling plant — including safety measures — before granting licence to the gas companies, the corporation has not been carrying out its duties sincerely, according to subcommittee coordinator Dhan Raj Gurung.
“The state oil monopoly must inspect technical details of Liquefied Petroleum Gas — popularly known as cooking gas — bottling plants before issuing Product Delivery Order (PDO),” he said, adding that the inspection team has, however, found that PDO is issued by taking commission rather than inspecting the plants thoroughly.
It has found that at least 16 gas bottling plants — of the total 42 — have failed to manage water storage level required by the existing regulation.
Even though LP gas industries have to store at least 450,000 litre water at their premises, 16 gas companies have been clearly flouting the regulation, Gurung said, adding that the government’s monitoring agencies have failed to take action against them. Submitting its report to the PAC, the subcommittee said that LP gas business is running rampantly and urged the government agencies to take action against all the gas companies flouting the regulation. It had — during the inspection — found that most of the gas bottling plants were maintaining only one tenth of the required water storage. They have been maintaining only 50,000 litres of water against the provision of 450,000 litres, he added.
The subcommittee report has also mentioned that officials from monitoring agencies have not carried out pre-licence inspection and test in appropriate manner. “The government agencies have not carried out Initial Environmental Examination (IEE), hydrostatic test and other safety standards thoroughly,” the report said, blaming government agencies for their failure in monitor gas industries.
Gas companies have also failed to follow the regulation of keeping the bottling plants five km away from residential area, according to report.
Entrepreneurs have been involved in irregularities also due to weaknesses of LP Gas Regulation, the report mentioned, adding that the regulation has failed to mention what type of action should be taken against the guilty ones. “The subcommittee directs Ministry of Commerce and Supplies to formulate new and effective LP Gas Regulation and introduce it at the earliest.”
The Public Accounts Committee also approved the report from subcommittee and decided to forward it to the concerned stakeholders for the implementation of its recommendation.
Why store water?
In order to provide fire protection facilities and to protect human lives at the time of any untoward accident, the gas bottling plants should have enough water storage capacity. The water storage capacity should not be for less than four hours aggregate working capacity, according to international norms. The LP gas bottling plants may bring disaster in case it got fire if water storage is not sufficient.
Source: THT
Subcommittee under Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Legislature Parliament has blamed Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) for promoting irregularities in the gas business.
Though NOC is the authority to check all aspects of bottling plant — including safety measures — before granting licence to the gas companies, the corporation has not been carrying out its duties sincerely, according to subcommittee coordinator Dhan Raj Gurung.
“The state oil monopoly must inspect technical details of Liquefied Petroleum Gas — popularly known as cooking gas — bottling plants before issuing Product Delivery Order (PDO),” he said, adding that the inspection team has, however, found that PDO is issued by taking commission rather than inspecting the plants thoroughly.
It has found that at least 16 gas bottling plants — of the total 42 — have failed to manage water storage level required by the existing regulation.
Even though LP gas industries have to store at least 450,000 litre water at their premises, 16 gas companies have been clearly flouting the regulation, Gurung said, adding that the government’s monitoring agencies have failed to take action against them. Submitting its report to the PAC, the subcommittee said that LP gas business is running rampantly and urged the government agencies to take action against all the gas companies flouting the regulation. It had — during the inspection — found that most of the gas bottling plants were maintaining only one tenth of the required water storage. They have been maintaining only 50,000 litres of water against the provision of 450,000 litres, he added.
The subcommittee report has also mentioned that officials from monitoring agencies have not carried out pre-licence inspection and test in appropriate manner. “The government agencies have not carried out Initial Environmental Examination (IEE), hydrostatic test and other safety standards thoroughly,” the report said, blaming government agencies for their failure in monitor gas industries.
Gas companies have also failed to follow the regulation of keeping the bottling plants five km away from residential area, according to report.
Entrepreneurs have been involved in irregularities also due to weaknesses of LP Gas Regulation, the report mentioned, adding that the regulation has failed to mention what type of action should be taken against the guilty ones. “The subcommittee directs Ministry of Commerce and Supplies to formulate new and effective LP Gas Regulation and introduce it at the earliest.”
The Public Accounts Committee also approved the report from subcommittee and decided to forward it to the concerned stakeholders for the implementation of its recommendation.
Why store water?
In order to provide fire protection facilities and to protect human lives at the time of any untoward accident, the gas bottling plants should have enough water storage capacity. The water storage capacity should not be for less than four hours aggregate working capacity, according to international norms. The LP gas bottling plants may bring disaster in case it got fire if water storage is not sufficient.
Source: THT
