SANGAM

MoCS alive to LPG risks

SANGAM PRASAIN

KATHMANDU, AUG 30 -
In a move that could ensure quality products, the Ministry of Commerce and Supplies (MoCS) on Sunday endorsed a decision to allow the two state-owned enterprises to prepare the specification, import and sales of regulators and pipes used in Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) cylinders.

The new provision authorises the Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) to prepare the specifications for LPG regulators and pipes and the National Trading Limited (NTL) to import and sell them once the NOC certifies the products.

Private companies are also allowed to import these products. “The government’s move to endorse the decision is to discourage the private companies selling substandard products and up competition in business that will ensure quality products to the customers,” said Ganesh Dhakal, spokesman at MoCS.

Traders had recently admitted that sub-standard valves and worn-out regulators were rampant in the market due to high profit motives, which were causing accidents.

Due to substandard products, the chances of cylinder leakage are high. When there is a leak, the gas inside tends to get concentrated in an enclosed area and thus creates a risk of a severe explosion and fire.

After mounting pressure and alarm over risk of leakage, among other problems due to use of sub-standard products, a six-member task force was formed a month ago to study the issue under the coordination of director general of Nepal Bureau of Standards and Metrology (NEBSM).

Mukunda Dhungel, spokesperson for the NOC, said that officially they haven’t received the MoCS decision. But, NOC had been earlier informed that the government would use a one-door policy for the import of these items, Dhungel said. “There are regular casualties happening due to the sale of substandard products but the sellers were reluctant to take the responsibility. This initiative will go a long in reducing the risk of such incidents,” he added.

Suresh Prajapati, general secretary of the Association of LP Gas Industry, said that the move would control the import of sub-standard products and rampant smuggling.

“This will bring down casualties due to LPG related risks,” he said. The prices of products will also be monitored as the product sellers have been cheating the customers, he said. Recently, gas dealers, consumer rights activists and other stakeholders said that more than 30 percent of LPG cylinders in circulation are at high risk of explosion due to the use of sub-standard regulators and pipes.

Around four million gas cylinders are in circulation in the country currently. Several deaths have occurred due to cylinder explosions with seven people lost their lives last year due to cylinder explosions in Kathmandu Valley alone.

NEBSM, that was monitoring the quality and standard of gas and gas related products, stopped its monitoring from 2003. However, with gas cylinder explosion accidents increasing, the Ministry of Industry again called NEBSM in June 2010 to carry out its monitoring.