The use of LPG cylinders to fuel cars and other vehicles has been declared illegal and the ban would be lifted only after authorised gas refill centres come up in Mysore, according to Food and Civil Supplies deputy director, S E Mahadevappa (March 15, 2005).
He hasn't, however, indicated when this could happen. Does anyone else have a clue on a time-frame in which the gas refill stations would be in place ?
In our country ,we are driven by the notion that the Indian consumer lacks common sense and is ill informed.The local adminstration tends to keep the common man confused by making statements that are against the run of popular universal opinion and practice.It may be intresting to note that over 20% of the global LPG produced is being used in autogas worldwide.
Firstly let us understand that gasious fuel(LPG/CNG) is the most environment friendly fuel known to us.World wide use of environment friendly fuel is being propagated agressively,in order to control emmission of green house gases.
In the indian context it may be fair to state that the subsidy on domestic gas and the Cylinder design (Domestic & Commercial) are deterents for use of gas in automotives. Safety being the key issue besided loss to the exchecker.
International safe practices follow cylinder design which allows liquid withdrawal from the tank and vapousisation of the fuel just before injection into the cumbustion chamber of the automotive.
However to my best knowledge, usage of LPG in 19 kg packs is in no way violating any of the guidlines provided in the gas control order. No doubt the best practice would be to have IED (Indian Explosives Department)approved LPG tanks designed for liquid withdrawal, fitted in the vehicle and have refilling carried out at autogas vending points. As rigthly pointed out there does not seem to be a time line fixed for such retail vending points to be established in Mysore. In the absense of the required infrastructure which is the responsibility of the local adminstration,citizens of Mysore need to be offered an alternative since use of LPG as autogas besided addressing pressing environmental issues makes economic sense too.
How about colour-coding cylinders to prevent misuse of the subsidised LPG ? The cylinders used as transport fuel could be painted blue or yellow, instead of the conventional red, and priced higher. Colour-coding facilitates the police to check misuse. And the domestic gas dealers could be allowed to supply blue cylinders to legitimate car owners through a registration system.
This could be an interim step till we have the authorized gas filling centres in place.
It costs Rs.2 crores to set up an LPG-cylinder refilling centre for gas driven vehicles, according to food and civil supplies minister H S Mahadeva Prasad (April 2, 2005)
The gas industry is having color codes besides having larger sized packs for non domestic use.
There is a proposal to introduce colour-coding to prevent misuse of subsidized cooking gas for non-domestic purposes. This is under consideration by the chief controller of explosives. Commercial LPG cylinders would be painted black, blue or green, or any colour other than that of domestic cylinders, for distinct visibility – Union petroleum minister, Mr Mani Shankar Aiyar, in Rajya Sabha (Dec. 8, 2005)
