Panaji: While chief minister Pramod Sawant urged residents to shift from LPG to piped gas, the state’s city gas distribution vision continues to be plagued by red tape, reluctant customers, and manpower shortages.In addition, the adoption of piped natural gas (PNG) in Goa has been undermined by the service being limited to urban pockets of Panaji and Ponda in North Goa, with Porvorim, Calangute and Mapusa still remaining uncovered.According to sources, there are inter-departmental challenges that are hindering the smooth expansion of piped gas in the state. In some instances, PWD has demanded that the piped gas agencies, which are also govt-owned, should remove the underground gas pipelines. Panchayats as well as the Corporation of the City of Panaji are also dragging their feet over the permissions for laying of new gas pipelines.Seeking to accelerate the push for piped natural gas (PNG), the ministry of petroleum and natural gas (MoPNG), late on Tuesday, invoked the Essential Commodities Act (ECA) and announced reforms to ease provisions towards expanding piped gas network for domestic and commercial customers.“The public entities shall grant right of way or right of use or any permission in respect of any public areas that are not housing areas, for the purposes of laying, building, operating or expanding a pipeline,” the notification states.The ministry underlined the reforms were aimed at “addressing delays in approvals and access to land, and enabling faster development of natural gas infrastructure, including in residential areas”, alongside instituting an investor-friendly network and improving last-mile connectivity.“Manpower is the issue. We are taking up all the housing societies in a phase-wise manner. By June, we have planned to supply gas to all the residents of the 100 housing societies that we have in Panaji and Ponda, provided that all the residents cooperate and the housing society management gives the permissions and the payment is made,” said a govt official.Goa Natural Gas Pvt Ltd (GNGPL), for the period Jan to March, waived the Rs 500 registration fee that customers have to pay for new piped gas connections. Now state govt has asked GNGPL to extend the scheme till June.“We have teams in housing societies to fill up forms and register, but still just 10-15 actually register. People are think the LPG crisis will become normal in a few days,” said an official.
