Family members of the three persons killed in a gas cylinder explosion at Haugal, Lalitpur last month allegedly due to faulty cylinders of HP Gas have started a campaign to collect cylinders from other users for return to the bottling plant Himalayan Petrochemicals.

They said that they had collected 50 HP Gas cylinders so far. Around 240,000 cylinders issued by the company are in circulation across the country. The cylinder blast on May 20 at a metal workshop killed three people besides injuring several others. The explosion has been blamed on a leak in the gas cylinder.

Raju Tamrakar, joint coordinator of the struggle committee, said they were collecting HP Gas cylinders and sought the government’s help in their effort. On Sunday, the struggle committee formed to ensure justice for the victims handed over a memorandum to the Supply Ministry demanding appropriate compensation for the families of the blast victims.

The committee also demanded stern action against the gas company. “The government should scrap the licence of HP Gas,” said Tamrakar. He said the government had assured them of reaching a decision based on the report of an on-the-spot inspection conducted by the police. “Supply Minister Ganesh Man Pun has said that the government will not hold back on implementing its decision to take action against the gas companies,” he said.

During an investigation carried out by the Metropolitan Police Range, Lalitpur in the presence of the victims’ family members and consumer rights activists, inspectors found that the wall of the destroyed metal cylinder was only 1.83 mm thick.

As per the standard set by the Nepal Bureau of Standards and Metrology, the cylinder wall should be between 2.4 mm and 2.9 mm thick. Two other government committees have also been formed to investigate the blast, but their reports have not been made public.

On Wednesday, the Supply Ministry asked Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) to forbid Himalayan Petrochemicals to import liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). Gas bottlers reacted immediately by threatening to stop all LPG deliveries to the market if the ban was not withdrawn.

Gas bottlers have claimed that the blast at the metal workshop was caused by a defective oxygen cylinder placed next to their LPG cylinder. However, Rajesh Tamrakar, brother of Suresh Tamrakar who was among those killed, said the LPG cylinder blew up while the men were engaged in their regular work of making copper and bronze vessels. “Despite the safety measures adopted at the workshop, the cylinder exploded as the cylinder wall was too thin,” Tamrakar said.

The probe report prepared by a government investigation committee has not been published. The government had formed a four-member investigation committee under Laxman Shrestha, director of the Department of Supply Management. Shrestha said he didn’t want to disclose the report as it was the ministry’s job to do so.

Supply Secretary Shreedhar Sapkota and spokesperson for the ministry Ananda Ram Regmi refused to say anything about the report. 

Meanwhile, Premlal Maharjan, president of the National Consumers Forum, said they would file a case if the government attempted to twist the facts. “As the on-the-spot inspection carried out by a joint team of the police and civil society has revealed that the cylinders of HP Gas were defective, we will not accept any government report saying something different to let the guilty go free,” he said.