Furnaces on roads pose threat to lives

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, November 7 

In the absence of any check on encroachments, sweets shops and restaurants owners have been cooking food on footpaths by using LPG cylinders in the city. The practice can be seen going on in various markets of the city, where the sweets shops and restaurants owners install gas cylinder-equipped furnaces on the road or the footpath. 

This negligence of the authorities could cause a major tragedy. 

A major tragedy was averted at a gurdwara in the Haripura area where a gas cylinder caught fire while lanagr was being cooked on gurpurb. The sewadars doused the fire before there was a blast. 

Vendors and roadside eateries often use gas cylinders in crowded areas. In the Putaligarh area, sweets shop owners have been installing several cylinders on the road. 

Kirpal Singh Randhawa, member of the Encroachment Monitoring Committee, said, “I have filed several complaints to the higher authorities to remove such encroachments on priority, as they pose a threat to human lives. No one has shown the courage to take action, as the violators are politically influential. The authorities have to show concern for human lives and remove such encroachments”. 

There is no check by the district administration on the   use of LPG cylinders in the roadside vends. 

“Some vehicle can accidentally hit these cylinders, lying on the road. It can cause a major tragedy in the crowded areas. The MC should not allow the vendors, shopkeepers and restaurant owners to use cylinders on the roadside”, said Ranvir Kumar, a resident.