A high risk of catastrophic accidents stalks the country’s roadways because nearly 85% of the gas cylinders of CNG-run vehicles have expired, leaving them prone to exploding.
Over the last 15 years, just 15% of the vehicles – buses, minibuses, cars, microbuses and autorickshaws – had their cylinders retested.
Cylinder failure on vehicles can result in explosions or fire.
Although Rupantarita Prakritik Gas Company Limited (RPGCL) requires that cylinders be retested every three years, few follow this.
A citizens’ rights group has demanded that all expired vehicular gas cylinders be retested to avoid accidents.
National Committee to Protect Shipping, Roads and Railways (NCPSRR) adviser and Communist Party politician Manzurul Ahsan Khan, and NCPSRR general secretary Ashis Kumar Dey yesterday issued a joint statement on the need to retest expired cylinders.
There are over 300,000 private cars and around 500,000 publicly and privately owned transport vehicles operating in the capital, but neither the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority, the police nor the RPGCL have been able to enforce this safety precaution, the rights group alleged.