BMC seizes 784 cylinders in last three months

The licence department of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation has seized 784 LPG cylinders in the last three months, which were illegally stored. The department's vigilance team had carried out four raids in different parts of the city based on individual tip-offs.

In the latest raid carried out in Mazgaon on Monday, 486 cylinders worth Rs7.21 lakh were seized. A civic official said the person who had kept them there, identified as Umarshaad Mohammad Khaliq Khan, was not able to produce proper documents. "The cylinders were stored together for selling, which is extremely dangerous. It's a violation of section 394 of the Mumbai Municipal Corporation Act," a civic official involved in the raid said.

"We carry out such raids periodically. In the next couple of months, we have planned raids on places where chemicals are being stored without the requisite permissions."

A case was registered at the Byculla police station against the accused and the seized cylinders were taken to the municipal explosives DP Godown in Deonar.

"BMC officials handed Khan over to us and he was arrested on charges of violating BMC Act norms. He also didn't have the licence required to store cylinders. We are investigating the case further," said senior inspector Suresh Magdum.