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The number of CNG-run vehicles in the country currently stands at about 1.3 lakh and is fast rising as more and more people are opting to have their vehicles retrofitted with catalytic converters to run on CNG in a bid to save on their fuel bills. However, the number of registered conversion centre, according to the Rupantarita Prakritik Gas Company Limited, stands at 111, which, needless to say, is not adequate to meet the increasing demand. Such a supply-demand mismatch has naturally led to the mushrooming of unauthorised conversion centres. Most of these unauthorised centres rope in their clients by offering their services at a rate cheaper than that of the registered centres, which, again naturally, leads to compromise on safety regulations and procedures. While the vehicle owners save money on retrofitting bills, they become vulnerable to mishaps, which could even be fatal, as was proved in a couple of cases. We could not agree with the special assistant to the chief adviser, M Tamim, more when he says, ‘If 5 per cent of the total CNG-run vehicles are using illegal cylinders, it is ominous.’ The plan to provide vehicles with authorised cylinders with stickers also sounds sensible and it also seems that the government has already worked out a mechanism for distribution of the stickers. However, as we have noticed in similar cases in the past, the military-controlled interim government has an inclination to episodic, as opposed to sustained, activism. The drive against illegal conversion centres should by no means be a one-off event. The safety inspection of CNG-run vehicles should be a round-the-year affair.
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