Over 300 CNG vehicles plying sans valid fitness certificate

LUCKNOW: The next time you sit in a CNG vehicle, remember to ask the owner if he/she has got a valid fitness certificate for it and whether the vehicle has been hydro-tested.

Sample this. Over 300 vehicles have been found plying on the roads without renewal of their fitness certificates and some of them haven’t even been hydrotested for the CNG tank fitted in them.

Hydro-testing enables examining a CNG cylinder for its pressure handling strength, to ensure safety. It is an indicator for CNG providers at the gas filling station that the cylinder is safe.

Why are vehicles sans hydrotesting certificate risky? If the CNG tank is unable to bear the pressure, there is a chance of the same bursting.

A list of vehicles found having expired or no hydro-testing certificate at the CNG filling station has been sent to the transport department by Green Gas Limited that runs the filling station in Lucknow.

RTO (enforcement) Bidisha Singh said the points raised in the letter have been considered and will be included in the checking drives. “The staff has been instructed to consider the points,” she said.

“The list of vehicles plying without hydro-testing certificate and renewal of fitness certificates also includes three-wheelers that have two CNG cylinders instead of one. It has been sent to the transport department,” said Jatin Mittal, officer, fires and safety, GGL.

The list included private and public transport vehicles.

In the list sent to the transport department, most of the vehicles were found having fitness certificates that expired in 2017 while others had certificates that expired in 2016, 2015 and even 2013.