GAIL will be forced to lay an 8-km gas pipeline cutting through the city from Outer Ring Road to Yelahanka if the proposed gas-based power plant in the suburb has to fructify. The company, however, is yet to take a call on laying the pipeline to Yelahanka, raising further concerns about the project.
While Karnataka Power Corporation Ltd. (KPCL) officials claimed that GAIL had in-principle agreed to the proposal, company officials denied any such confirmation but said “it is under active consideration”.
Nearest terminal pointA senior GAIL official said the nearest terminal point to the proposed Yelahanka power plant was 8 km away, near Bharat Electronics Ltd. (BEL) campus on Outer Ring Road. Laying the additional 8-km-long pipeline, which is not part of the Gas Transmission Agreement (GAT) with the KPCL, is yet to be negotiated, officials said. The issue of who would bear the additional cost had to be decided, an official said.
The area between the Outer Ring Road and the proposed Yelahanka gas power plant being densely populated is also a concern. Laying a large-diameter pipe transmitting large volumes of natural gas in a residential belt was expected to draw opposition from the residents over safety issues, said a GAIL official.
Legal wranglesThe issue became complicated after legal wrangles over the Bidadi power plant, following which the KPCL had to change plans to set up the gas-based plant to use gas from the 1,386-km Dabhol pipeline at Yelahanka.
Meanwhile, the project is yet to get clearance from the Ministry of Environment of Forests, which is expected to take another six months.
