BENGALURU: People across the city keenly await the supply of Piped Natural Gas (PNG) to their homes, as it is set to cut expenses incurred on gas bills by nearly 40 per cent. However, various reasons are delaying the supply of gas to kitchens across Bengaluru, with Horamavu ward finally getting it two years after pipes were laid by the Gas Authority of India Ltd (GAIL).
Since last week, over 400 houses in Bank Avenue and Trinity Enclave in the ward have begun using PNG for cooking, after the service was launched here formally on January 17. It has been quite a wait for all of them.
Among the relieved families is that of Kochu Shankar, a resident here. “I used to spend Rs 1,000 a month for a gas cylinder. This will reduce my expenditure to Rs 600. We have begun using PNG for cooling now. The heating is good and so are its safety aspects, and my wife is happy about it,” he says. A few more areas of Horamavu have also been given pipeline connections but the gas is yet to reach their doorsteps, he added.
A senior official at GAIL said that Vignan Nagar and Ramamurthy Nagar would get connections next, with nearly 48 km of gas pipeline being installed here. On reasons for the delay, he said the Medium Density Polyethylene pipelines to supply gas were laid underground in August 2019.
“After we completed it, the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board carried out pipeline work which resulted in damage to our pipeline. We had to rectify the damages before we could commission the gas supply,” he explained. Work at HRBR Layout also got delayed as BBMP started asphalting work, and GAIL couldn’t do anything for a year.
The two Covid-19 waves forced them to lose three months in the past two years, due to labour shortage. Giving the progress made by GAIL across the city, the official said that 1,600 km of gas pipeline have been laid. “The actual testing and commissioning of gas has been done for nearly 45,000 homes. We hope to supply gas to another 1.2 lakh houses by May,” he said.