Pipelines already laid to 140 houses in Hebbal; 6,000 households to get supply by March 2022
Mysore/Mysuru: The ambitious project of procuring cooking gas through pipeline at home through Piped Natural Gas (PNG) that was announced in September this year has begun and works are on to lay pipelines and metres to houses in Hebbal. The project will be realised by 2023 where over 40,000 homes in Mysuru will get the supply in the first phase.
Once the first phase is complete, works will begin for the second phase where the rest of the city will be covered. When piped gas starts flowing into kitchens, the woes of booking cooking gas cylinders, waiting for supply and carrying it to top floors will all be things of the past. The Centre had sanctioned piped gas projects to Mangaluru and Bengaluru and now it has been sanctioned to Mysuru.
Pipeline-laying works are going on at Hebbal, Lakshmikanthanagar, Mayura Circle and Cauvery Circle and as of now, over 140 houses have been covered and there are over 6,000 houses in this area. All the 6,000 houses will have gas connections by March next year (2022) and over 70 percent of the population have opted for the gas supply.
Mysuru, Mandya and Chamarajanagar
AG&P Pratham India, the city gas distribution arm of the Singapore-headquartered AG&P Group, has bagged the tender to supply piped gas for Mysuru and the supply plant is being set up at Hebbal.
A dream project of Mysuru-Kodagu MP Pratap Simha, the project, once fully realised, would cover Mysuru, Mandya and Chamarajanagar districts.
The main pipeline for the project has already been laid from Bengaluru to Mysuru via Bidadi and the length of the pipeline is 104 km and the pipeline has reached Hebbal. From Hebbal, pipelines will have to be laid for seven kilometres till the Columbia Asia Hospital and from Hebbal till Bandipalya, covering a distance of 19 km.
The LCNG (Liquid to Compressed Natural Gas) Hebbal storage and supply plant is being set up with an investment of Rs. 600 crore and already giant white storage tanks have come up there. One more LCNG station will come up at Nanjangud and in Mandya, an LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas) satellite station will be established.
Along with laying pipelines to individual houses, meters are also being fixed to measure the consumption. Households that require connections will have to register first and for this, Aadhaar details and electricity bills are mandatory. Pipeline and meters will be installed free of cost and once installed, Rs. 6,000 will have to be paid as deposit.
Monthly cost of Rs. 700
Once the gas supply starts to the kitchens, Rs. 2,000 would be charged as service charge and Rs. 4,000 would be refunded. Every month, Rs. 700 has to be paid for the gas supply. Natural gas is also used in households as PNG. Initially, the response by the residents was lukewarm and all their doubts and apprehensions were cleared, AG&P Pratham India project officer in Mysuru told Star of Mysore.
“When the meters are fixed and also when the pipelines are drawn into the kitchens, a good ventilated space is chosen and the pipes are fixed from outside the house for additional safety. Also, safety offices with surveillance teams will be established at regular intervals of five kilometres. Any issue will be attended to within 10 to 15 minutes,” he added.
Exclusivity period of 25 years
AG&P Pratham India has bagged the contract and approval from Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board that regulates the refining, processing, storage, transportation, distribution, marketing and sale of petroleum, petroleum products and natural gas.
As per the contract, the company is allowed an exclusivity period of 25 years for laying, building and expanding infrastructure for supplying natural gas in gaseous, liquid and compressed format.
Under the eight-year infrastructure plan for Mysuru, Mandya and Chamarajanagar, gas will be supplied to five lakh households and 171 Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) stations will be established.
Natural gas is lighter than air and highly combustible. It has lower environmental impact when compared with other types of fuel. It is a safe fuel as it operates at low pressure and it is not stored in cylinders. It burns completely with no residue.
When it has been mentioned that meters will be installed to monitor consumption, why is there a fixed charge of Rs.700 per month?? Charge should be as per consumption and not on fixed basis. This is contradictory.
1. What is the precautions taken with respect to safety? What happens if there is a gas leak from the main line? because construction works and elec board happily dig where ever they want!
2. Why Rs 700 fixed monthly charges? It is a big big negative. We use one cylinder for about 2.5 months now, so out monthly gas costs are less than 300. So will we end up paying monthly 1000+?? (we use solar electric for some part of cooking)
3. Can we opt out of piped gas? Is this flexibility allowed?
In the Western countries, where the gas pipeline were installed decades ago and have been working under strictest standards with good quality pipes, , have .leakage many times a year, and those are fixed instantly. But digging in roads are a necessity.
Now, climate change rules mean that gas is replaced with electricity produced by renewables. Gas leaks and explosions become common, if the structure is not maintained. I doubt India is advanced enough to handle these gas pipelines.
India pollutes more second only to China. Gas is a heavy pollutant.
There is no necessity for running these pipelines, when there is an alternative of supplying safe gas cylinders to homes, which is safer and more economical. The Rupees 700 fixed charge is for maintenance of the structure, I presume. That bwill keep on doubling every year!
As usualt hose in power must be getting huge kick backs for the laying of these pipelines.
There would be illegal connections just like the water and electricity
Are we in fools paradise. The news item says that piped gas will be metered. If so, how one has to pay Rs 700 every month? A family of 4 will consume one gas cylinder costing Rs 900, for two months. This works out to monthly rate of Rs. 450/- Piped gas supply should be cheaper than cylinder cost and not more than that. Moreover if one is out of station for a month why he should pay Rs 700 ? Ridiculous.
Hey posters
Just stop and think about how much you are paying for daily food essentials:
1. Basmati Rice Rs 100 per Kg or other varieties just less than this.
2. Tomatoes: Rs 80 per Kg
3, Onions: Rs 45/kg
3. Groundnut cooking oil Rs 200 per litre
Considering the total cost of the above per month plus the rent etc.. The gas price even with the fixed Rs700 per month, the government will argue is not much.
Also, how much are you paying per month for using your cell phones?
Your PM Modi argued at the COP26 climate conference in Glasgow that India cannot let go of using Coal until the end of this century.
Revert to using charcoal for cooking. Technology improvement means efficient charcoal is is feasible and desirable. Very safe too.
Agree with the above poster,
When the prices of essential food items are skyrocketing these days, the gas price including the fixed price demanded per month seems alright comparatively speaking to the above.
Tough luck, pay the price or the poster suggested use charcoal cooker or fire wood. Not bad, as the roads of this so called modern Mysuru are shared by 2/3/4 wheelers, stray donkeys, cows and dogs.
Any empty space at the roadside is used as toilet!
So many posters moan here complaining about the gas line and the fixed price per month, which is , I guess used for maintenance of the pipe lies, fixing leaks etc..
The same posters do not hesitate to fork out subscriptions to watch movies and cricket , the latter ensures that Kohli becoming a multi-millionaire, spending holidays in Italy etc.. etc.. These posters also fork out cell subscription fees and call costs. add to them the drinks costs, fancy takeaways etc.., which many Mysoreans indulge in. then there is expensive petrol fill up for their vehicles!
The gas line fixed charges and metered charges will be commensurate with the above costs! Well, make a choice.
Supporters above should understand that the issue is not the fixed price of rs.700, or people’s ability to pay. Do not try to be too smart by preaching others about ability to pay, spending on subscriptions and going back to charcoal. Charcoal sarcasm was foolish, the comparison is between piped gas and LPG, both are petroleum based. Point is why should anyone pay for what they are not consuming, whether it is subscription or natural gas. The issue that is pointed out is, when people currently spend Rs.450 per month on non-subsidized cylinders, why would they spend Rs.700 per month for gas? Cylinders can be ordered in amazon now and delivery in a day. Either the SOM report is wrong or the minimum fixed price is too high compared to current spend. My biggest concern would be service assurance, I don’t want to stop in the middle of cooking because of disturbance in supply line.
Opposers should note that the govt has not made this compulsory, so its upto the individuals, for now. Secondly, its about how much are you willing to pay to avoid the risk of cylinder explosion? Many may choose to pay Rs.700 fixed to avoid the risk of keeping a high pressure cylinder at home, just like a term insurance. It doesn’t mean piped gas is risk free, if you open the pipe to fill the kitchen and lit the fire, noone can save you. But it just reduces the risk to life due to cylinders.
Idiots think, they need the assurance of supply. Assuming that there should be cast-iron guarantee of supply is simply uninformed nonsense and delusion. Charcoal is not sarcasm, but a real alternative. The uninformed fool thinks that he is living in a n advanced country. He is in Mysore, a third world city where he shares the roads and streets with stray dogs, donkeys , and his street open space is used for defecation by his fellow Mysoreans.
No advanced country in the world assures electricity or gas supplies.
The clever households should plan alternatives should a contingency arrives.