After three cylinder blasts in the city this month, the city’s fire fighting body — Delhi Fire Services — has decided to write to all the major oil companies to conduct a study on why such explosions are being reported so frequently.
“We are going to write a letter to the companies packaging and selling LPG cylinders in the city requesting them to conduct an independent analysis of these incidents. To study if there were issues in packaging or were these outcomes of improper use,” said DFS Director Dr. GC Misra.
The department is also going to write to Central agencies such as Oil Industries Safety Directorate and Controller of Explosives to formulate the processing and handling of gas cylinders and to put a check on those filled illegally. Dr. Misra said while it was too early to reach to a conclusion in the Gandhi Nagar or Sunlight Colony incidents, the DFS itself has decided to carry out the trends in cylinder blasts in the past three years but given that the process will require sifting from the 25,000 calls received annually, the process will take time.
The fire chief highlighted that this year in particular, the number of all fire calls in the month of April have gone up alarmingly. For an average daily number of 80-90 calls per day last April, this year the fire department is receiving at least 110 calls per day.
“The temperature has touched 44 degree Celsius which is again unusual. Heat is a major reason why cylinders explode,” he said.
Within Delhi, he said that the bulk of calls were made from the East Zone which accounted for 26 per cent of the fire incidents.
