In Pakistan, which is reeling under severe economic crisis, pictures and videos of people carrying cooking gas in large plastic bags have gone viral. People fill large plastic balloons with cooking gas in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, where there is a severe shortage of cooking gas cylinders. There is also concern that handling this, including children, will cause major accidents.
Various media reported that due to acute shortage of cooking gas cylinders, cooking gas is being filled in plastic bags from shops connected to the country’s cooking gas network. The bag is sealed with a tail to avoid leakage of cooking gas. People who buy this use cooking gas with the help of an electric pump. It takes about an hour to fill these plastic balloons with three to four kilos of cooking gas.
Along with pictures of plastic bags filled with cooking gas, one person tweeted:
“In Pakistan, filling of cooking gas in plastic bags instead of cylinders has increased. Cooking gas is filled in plastic bags at shops connected to the cooking gas pipeline network. People use cooking gas in plastic bags at home with the help of a small electric suction pump.
A video of two children walking with plastic bags filled with cooking gas has also been shared on Twitter.
“There is a warning that filling plastic bags with cooking gas can lead to massive explosions. But we have not heard of such accidents yet. Even though there is such a risk, given the high cost of the cylinders, common people like me cannot afford it’ – Pak media reported quoting a person who uses cooking gas in plastic bags.