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Five years on, piped gas remains a pipe dream for Mohali residents
The work was allotted to IOC-Adani Gas in 2016, but only 12-km main pipeline has been laid so far on Airport Road
Already behind schedule by five years, Mohali residents will have to wait longer to get piped natural gas (PNG) as the firm appointed for the project has stalled the work.
Earlier in 2019, due to delayed permissions from the municipal corporation (MC), the project could not pick up pace.
The work was allotted to Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), in collaboration with the Adani Group, in 2016. The company has only laid the main 12-km gas pipeline on Airport Road, some parts of Industrial Area Phases 7 and 8-B, and in Sectors 67 and 68.
Even in April 2018, the Punjab government notified the policy for providing PNG connections to households, but the project got delayed.
A senior officer of the company said, “The Government of India allotted the gas pipeline work in 2014 and we applied for digging permission in 2016. However, it was approved only last year. Currently, the company is focusing on commercial areas instead of domestic. The work has been stopped completely now and I believe it will take another three years for the project to complete.”
He added that initially, the firm’s plan was to start the work in Phase 10 and 11, but the main pipeline was laid only in the housing societies of Sectors 67 and 68.
When contacted, Mohali MC commissioner Kamal Kumar Garg said, “We have already given digging permission to the company. Why is it delaying the work now?”
In Zirakpur, the company has laid a 3-km pipeline on VIP Road, but the permission to connect the main pipeline with households is still awaited.
According to the project, the gas pipeline would be laid underground across the city leading to houses, just like water or electricity connections. Meters would be installed to measure the usage.
The company has already covered most of the southern sectors in Chandigarh and will start the work in Sector 20 and Manimajra.
PNG is around 20% cheaper than LPG supplied in cylinders, but the slow progress in laying underground pipes has been a major stumbling block and eluding customers from cheaper fuel.
