Causes of gas explosions not determined yet – govt.

By Saman indrajith

State Minister of Co-operative Services, Marketing Development and Consumer Protection Lasantha Alagiyawanna told Parliament yesterday that there had been 233 incidents of gas cylinder mishaps from January 2015 to 31 October this year.

Making a special statement on recent incidents of explosions caused by gas leaks from cylinders, the State Minister said the authorities concerned had not been able to determine the causes of those events.

The State Minister said President Gotabaya Rajapaksa had ordered that all the incidents be probed by experts.

Three reports had been obtained from a private company, identified as Intec, paid for by the Consumer Affairs Authority, and those related to the recent explosions caused by gas leaks, Alagiyawanna said.

“The Colombo Gas Company was established during the colonial period. Various government bodies were vested with the responsibility of regulating gas, however to date there has been no regulation on gas by a single state organisation,” he said.

Minister Alagiyawanna said that the Consumer Affairs Authority, which came under his ministry, had not fulfilled all the conditions set out by a gazette notification published in 2012.

He said the CAA had collected 12 samples of gas cylinders from the Ratnapura,

Kurunegala, Gampaha, Galle, Kalutara, and Colombo areas, where mishaps occurred, to be investigated.

The samples had been sent to the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation to be tested and the reports would be handed over to experts at the University of Moratuwa for advice, he said.

Based on expert advice, instructions would be issued for the necessary measures to be taken in that regard within one week, he said.

The State Minister admitted that there was no SLSI standard as regards the percentages of butane and propane in domestic gas, and added that according to the SLSI there were no international standards in that regard in other countries as well.

However, the universities believe that a change in the composition of gas could affect the pressure in the cylinder, he told the Parliament, adding that it was not possible to reach a conclusion yet.

He said that reports on investigations conducted on the explosions caused by gas leaks in domestic gas cylinders were expected this week.