With the Central government clearing decks for supplying cooking gas through pipelines to the households, more and more residents from the city can get access to the Piped Natural Gas (PNG), an economic option compared to the conventional fuels. Being the foremost city to be equipped with the PNG facility in the State, Kakinada boasts of having about 3,000 connections so far in different residential areas.
There will be a further boost to the connections, as the Kakinada Municipal Corporation included the PNG in the ‘Smart City’ initiatives and launched a campaign to make the alternative fuel acquainted to the denizens. Plans are afoot to organise a grand scale function to announce the official launch of the PNG facility in the city very soon.
The Bhagyanagar Gas Limited (BGL) — a joint venture of the GAIL Limited and the Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited — has chosen Kakinada and Vijayawada as its destinations in the State to provide the Compressed Natural Gas for vehicles and the PNG for households and industries.
After constructing the mother station at Vakalapudi in March, 2012, the firm launched the pipeline works, which are moving at a snail’s pace, owing to different reasons, from initial objections from the apprehensive public to the non-allocation of gas by the government for the project.
“Now, we are accelerating the works and planning to make it big in the local market in the days to come. The idea is to work on the pipelines and connections simultaneously,” Chandrashekhar R. Bakde, Senior Manager (Marketing) of the BGL, has told The Hindu . In all, 170 km of PNG pipeline for the domestic sector and another 30 km for industrial sector have already been laid in the city. This network accounts for close to 20 per cent of the total project size.
Pipeline is available at Sarpavaram, Valasapakala, 100 Buildings Centre and Bhanu Gudi Junction and connections can be provided instantly to the residents of the nearby areas on payment of a cash deposit of Rs. 5,000. Bi-monthly bill will be generated on the lines of the electricity bill, which can be paid either at the counters or through online.
Usage charges
The usage charges will be about Rs. 500 for two months for a four-member family. “We are ensuring uninterrupted gas supply to our consumers with utmost safety measures. They need not book refills and wait for the delivery boys. Moreover, it is an eco-friendly fuel,” explains Mr. Bakde.
“As part of the ‘Smart City’ initiative, we have chosen Ramaraopeta as a model colony, where we are going to ensure solar power plants, fibre grid, LED lighting and PNG to all the households. Interactive sessions and door-to-door campaigns are already on the cards,” says Municipal Commissioner S. Aleem Basha.
