Who should be held responsible for Ahmadpur Sharqia tragedy?
OGRA imposed a penalty of Rs10 million on SPL while holding the company responsible for the inferno
(WEB DESK) – It was on June 25 when an unforseen calamity overtook Ahmedpur Sharqia as an oil tanker en route from Keamari, Sindh, to Vehari, Punjab, met with the most unfortunate disaster of our country’s history.
It so happened that the vehicle carrying the fuel overturned resulting in the spilling out of oil on the road near village Safeerwala, 6km from Ahmedpur Sharqia.
According to reports, the death toll from the inferno reached to 213 as the massive fire also injured scores of people, some of whom later succumbed to burns in hospitals.
As per details, the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) on Friday held Shell Pakistan Limited (SPL) responsible for the inferno while imposing a penalty of Rs10 million on the company.
SPL was also ordered by OGRA to pay Rs 1 million each to the families of the deceased and Rs 500,000 each to the injured victims of the tragedy.
A copy of the report over the incident held Shell Pakistan Ltd responsible for the massive fireball that engulfed so many lives in southern Punjab province.
It is also worth mentioning here that when the the vehicle overturned, the local villagers had gathered to collect the fuel spilling from the tanker.
The death toll from the inferno also soared as a result of the non-availability of burn unit and unavailability of facilities in emergency wards as they held up the treatment of the patients.
Despite of OGRA findings that revealed that the oil tankers carrying the gasoline was not matching the standards specified by the rules of the land, should the regulatory body be given clean-chit in the matter? Why are the concerned departments washing their hands over the inferno? Will this piece of paper only do and compensate the massive loss being suffered?
If the company did not meet the requirements of the department, whose responsibilty was it to regulate such things?
If the fitness certificate provided by the transporter was fake, why was it issued in the first place?
If the vehicle failed to fulfill the standard of the rules specified by the OGRA while having four axels instead of five and carrying 50,000 liters of petrol, who out of nowhere would come to stop the company from playing with the lives of folks?
Why was there no local administration after the incident and even the police failed to reach on time?
Why even the National Highway Authority police did not cordon off the area?
These are questions that are still unanswered and continue to be.
