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• Total 146 cases of gas leaks leading to mishaps have been registered in the city last year. Of these, four resulted in deaths. Sadly, reasons like poor handling and negligence on part of consumers continue to be the main cause behind almost all cases."Most of the cooking gas-related accidents occur due to leakages from the rubber tube, faulty fitting of regulator, poor handling of gas appliances and leaving the cooking unattended, leading the vessel to overflow, which in turn extinguishes the burner and causes gas leak," said PMC's acting chief fire officer Prashant Ranpise.Since most accidents take place in kitchen, adequate measures must be taken for kitchen safety, he added."Since electrical appliances and cooking gas are used in the kitchen, fire safety precautions are a must. All members of the family must follow kitchen safety measures carefully, especially while cooking," Ranpise said.

• In 2009, the city reported 119 cases of cooking gas leaks. These cases rose to 128 in 2010 and in 2011 (till December 11) the number is 146.Cooking gas has a high expansion rate, and even a spark can result in an explosion. "In some cases, people left the stove on by mistake, resulting in fire. In other cases, faulty regulators or tubes caused the leakage," Ranpise said."Many people do not replace defective rubber tube for years together. These tubes should be replaced regularly. Almost 60 per cent cases of gas leaks that take place in city's slum areas happen due to non-replacement of defective tubes. Not properly fitting the regulator is the cause of leak and mishap in upwardly mobile areas. There has been a perceptible rise in cases where the leakage occurred at the base of the regulator. This is because the regulator is not fitted properly and there is some amount of poor handling when it comes switching it on and off," Ranpise said.

• Commenting on this, Usha Poonawala, president of the All India LPG Distributors' Federation, Maharashtra, said: "The reasons for cooking gas leaks have always been same. A lot of awareness is being created among people about the dos and don'ts that go into safety methods of using the cooking gas."An officer from one of the cooking gas suppliers said, "We are cautious about cylinders and equipment supplied to customers. We have made arrangements for customers to report any faults found. We also urge people to be careful while handling gas cylinders. They should check the cylinder for leaks when delivered. The pipe connecting the cylinder to the stove should also be checked for leaks."

• Dnyaneshwar Jawanjal, the foodgrain distribution officer who looks after the supply and distribution of domestic LPG in the city, said: "It is imperative on the part of cylinder distributors to conduct inspection of gas stove, cylinder and rubber tube every six months. But most of them do not conduct such verification. Consumer can ask the distributor to carry out periodic inspection of the gas stove."

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