Satisfied that the issue of safely transporting LPG in vehicles on roads is a subject of public interest, the Bombay high court has recently issued notices to the chief controller of explosives and other bodies seeking their reply on a PIL which was filed to seek appointment of an independent agency to verify licences issued by Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation (PESO) for carrying LPG in vehicles on roads.
The division bench of Justice V.M. Kanade and Justice Shalini Phansalkar Joshi issued a notice while hearing a PIL filed by social worker Mohammed Sehmad Hussain.
According to the petitioner, all the vehicles carrying LPG by road need a certificate and NOC from PESO in India. He pointed out some instances that showed that proper procedure was not followed while issuing licences.
The petition sought a direction to the authorities to strictly comply with the provisions of the Explosives Act 1884, and Static and Mobile Pressure Vessel (Unfired) Rules (SMPV(U)) 1981, for allowing vehicles to carry Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG).
The petitioner contended that it takes about 30 to 40 days under SMPV (U) Rules to grant NOC to vehicles and before granting certificates tests have to be conducted. The petition enumerated steps for conducting such tests.
Petitioner’s lawyer Dinesh Kadam submitted that 13 vehicles were converted from trailers to LPG tankers in December 2014 and it took approximately 30 to 40 days for PESO to grant license. The lawyer said that he had however come across cases of other vehicles in which immediately after they were converted from trailers to LPG tankers, PESO certificate was granted. The petitioner pointed out that though the vehicles were converted into LPG tankers on a subsequent date, the PESO certificate was obtained before that.
According to Mr Kadam, tests are required for the purpose of ensuring that the LPG tanker is in a fit condition and there is no possibility of any explosion of the vehicle. He submitted that this is also important from the point of view of public safety.
The lawyer invited the court’s attention to an accident that had occurred in Karnataka and also showed photographs of explosion of the tanker and the damage caused.
