Illegal LPG cylinder refilling still rampant as govt turns a blind eye
Hyderabad: Despite many accidents, some of which have been fatal, the illegal practice of refilling small cylinders from larger LPG cylinders continues unabated in the city. This illegal activity continues to thrive without any action taken by the authorities.
The illegal trade of cooking gas thefts by the illegal refilling of the cylinders is mushrooming across the city, especially in Old City areas. These cylinders are used by small hotels, jewellery stores among others.
In areas like Falaknuma, Chandrayangutta, Bandlaguda, Vattepally, Yakutpura, Bahadurpura, Mallepally, Nampally and the localities in slums, the owners of several shops that repair gas stoves are busy doing a dangerous activity that can cause a calamity in the area. Shockingly, these stores are located in most of the densely populated residential and commercial areas. They transfer LPG from regular sized cylinders supplied to homes to small ones of 2-5 kg size. According to law, illegal gas refilling is a crime.
These shops are usually cluttered with spares of gas stoves and empty cylinders. The refilling is done using a regular sized cylinder to a smaller one using a poor-quality connector. The entire filling and refilling are done so haphazardly that it is a disaster waiting to happen – not just a gas leak but also the likelihood of cylinder or gas explosion.
Mohammed Ahmed, an activist, said, 'These small cylinders are especially used by the Sunars, goldsmiths or gold and silver traders. The entire Gulzar Houz area uses the gas and illegally refills the cylinders. However, several incidents have occurred in the past but still no action has been taken to stop the illegal trade of refilling cylinders.'
It has been noted that the large cylinders for the job are bought by the refilling shops from gas agencies, which are paid a handsome commission for it. The small cylinder of five kg is refilled for between Rs 400 and Rs 500, while the normal cylinder in black market costs Rs 1,200. Last month, a 35-year-old man was severely injured when a blast took place when he was illegally refilling LPG cylinders in a store in Kukatpally. He was illegally refilling gas into small cylinders at an electrical and gas services shop.
Despite several such incidents, no strict action is being taken by civil supplies and police to curb this menace that is widespread in the city. Citizens alleged that police have failed to control this illegal activity despite many complaints.
'The civil supplies officials should constantly monitor such illegal activities and take necessary action. At the field level, the police should be active enough to identify the illegal activity,' said K Venkatesh, a resident of Lal Darwaza. Besides, most hotels and restaurants use domestic cylinders for commercial purposes, causing a financial loss to the government.
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