Gurgaon: The city is set to see an expansion of around 39km of piped natural gas (PNG) pipelines following a Haryana govt directive to fast-track gas infrastructure.MCG has approved proposals for laying around 38.8km of PNG pipelines across different parts of the city under the City Gas Distribution (CGD) network. The pipeline work will be executed by city gas distribution agencies Haryana City Gas (HCG) and Indraprastha Gas Limited (IGL), according to the MCG officials.MCG officials said the expansion will significantly increase PNG connectivity in Gurgaon residential colonies, markets and emerging sectors, reducing dependence on LPG cylinders and improving access to piped gas.MCG executive engineer Sandeep Sihag said, “Permissions were granted in accordance with a directive issued by Haryana govt to speed up the city gas infrastructure network.”According to MCG, letters of intent (LoIs) were issued between Feb 12 and April 1 for pipeline projects covering areas including Hans Enclave in Sector 33, Begampur Khatola, Sector 2, Palam Vihar, Sector 15 Part-1, Sectors 7, 9 and 4, South City-2, Lilac, Suncity in Sector 54, Sector 52 market, Sector 62, Sector 41, Sector 44 and Sector 38.Work on excavation and pipeline laying is expected to begin soon in these areas, said the MCG officials. While 10km pipeline will be laid in Hans Enclave in Sector 33, five km pipeline will be laid across South City-2, Lilac, Suncity (Sector 54), Sector 52 market, Sector 62 and Sector 41. Six km pipeline will be laid in Begampur Khatola, 9.2km pipeline will be laid in Sector 2 (Palam Vihar), 4km pipeline will be laid across Sectors 7, 9 and 4, 2km pipeline will be laid in Sector 15 Part-1, 0.8 km pipeline will be laid in Sector 44 and 1.77 km pipeline will be laid in Sector 38.Domestic LPG connections in Gurgaon stand at 10.2 lakh, while the number of PNG connections is 83,603 (Indraprastha Gas: 21,692 and Haryana City Gas: 61,911).In Gurgaon, HCG has received a total of 75,000 applications for PNG connections. Of these, the company has already provided around 65,000 connections, while about 10,000 requests remain pending. The company representatives said that following the West Asia conflict, the company has received around 5,000 fresh applications and expects another 10,000-20,000 requests in the coming months.“We have set a target to provide 25,000 domestic PNG connections by the end of June and another 25,000 by Sept-end,” Haryana City Gas CEO AK Jana said. Earlier, the company had to approach consumers to encourage them to opt for PNG connections, but the trend has now reversed, Jana said. “Earlier, we were reaching out to consumers, but now residents are approaching us for connections. Around 25 housing societies in Gurgaon are currently awaiting PNG connectivity for want of laying main pipeline outside the societies and after the approvals from the Gurgaon authorities, we have laid a 20km pipeline network in the last 15 days,” he said.“We have been pursuing PNG connections for the past two years, but with the govt now pushing the project more actively, work is expected to begin on the ground soon. For the expansion of the PNG network, cooperation from residents is essential,” Suncity RWA chairperson Kusum Sharma said.In an order recently issued by commissioner and secretary of the urban local bodies department Ashok Kumar Meena, municipalities were directed to expedite approvals for CGD pipelines in view of the need to strengthen domestic gas supply.The order stated that pending CGD pipeline applications should be treated as deemed approved, while new applications must be cleared within 24 hours. It also directed municipal bodies not to impose restrictions on working hours or seasons for CGD projects, subject to safety precautions.
