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 household 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.
