ROURKELA: Amid concerns over availability of LPG due to the ongoing West Asia conflict, the Sundargarh district administration and GAIL India Ltd have geared up to increase piped natural gas (PNG) connections to households in Rourkela.
At a meeting with GAIL authorities five days ago, Sundargarh collector Subhankar Mohapatra and chief civil supplies officer Ajay Rath stressed the need to further enhance penetration of PNG networks across Rourkela city and expeditiously set up basic infrastructure for house connections in phases for Sundargarh, Rajgangpur and Birmitrapur towns.
Sources in the GAIL informed that PNG supply is functional in Rourkela for over two years covering Chhend Colony, Civil Township, Koelnagar, Jagda, Jhirpani and a few other locations. As of now, there are around 2,500 active households connections, but penetration at some places is dismal.
Plan is afoot for laying additional 150 km of service lines for further expansion of household PNG connections at Rourkela to add another 2,000 consumers. Reportedly, GAIL is aggressively pursuing the expansion.
The sources further said Sundargarh town is to be covered next on priority and basic infrastructure creation is already underway and may take another 18 months for completion. The cross-country pipeline of GAIL from Bokaro via Rourkela, Jharsuguda and Angul to Srikakulam is far away from Sundargarh town. Hence, till required infrastructure is created, another option is to cater to the town through light commercial vehicle (LCV) caskets.
A senior GAIL official said basic pipeline infrastructure work is underway near Rajgangpur town. In the next phase, Kuanrmunda block and adjacent Birmitrapur town would be covered and land acquisition process is underway. He acknowledged that there are land hurdles in Birmitrapur and said GAIL expects to cover all urban centres of Sundargarh district along with Kuanrmunda block in next three to four years.
In Rourkela, GAIL authorities initially faced problems with people not cooperating and objecting to pipeline laying works. Before the FIH Men’s Hockey World Cup in January 2023, the pipeline work faced significant delays. Besides, pipelines were damaged at a few places due to road expansion works and had to be relaid again.
Official sources said as there is a public willingness to shift to PNG from LPG now, the authorities expect to get faster results. Fresh survey for laying new service pipelines would be taken up for Jail Road and adjacent areas.
Collector Mohapatra said Rourkela already has functional PNG networks and the administration appeals to the public to take household connections. The administration is also taking steps for setting up PNG networks in other urban pockets of Sundargarh, he added.