Panaji: State govt has decided to go ahead with laying a natural gas pipeline in Panaji despite Panaji MLA and revenue minister Atanasio ‘Babush’ Monserrate objecting to it.Chief secretary V Candavelou said that laying natural gas pipelines is a central govt priority and discussions are on. “The pipeline will be laid in selected areas by minimising damage to the infrastructure,” he said.Earlier this week, Panaji mayor Rohit Monserrate had said that the Corporation of the City of Panaji would not give any permission to lay gas pipelines in the city.Govt has urged residents to shift from LPG to piped gas following cooking gas shortages triggered by the West Asia conflict. The adoption of piped natural gas (PNG) in Goa has been undermined by the service being limited to urban pockets of Panaji and Ponda, with Porvorim, Calangute and Mapusa still remaining uncovered.Goa Natural Gas Pvt Ltd, a joint venture of GAIL and BPCL, was set up in 2017 to cater to the need of supply of clean energy.They are authorised for laying, building and operating of city gas distribution network in North Goa and Ponda taluka by Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board under the ministry of petroleum and natural gas (MoPNG).Mere months after the large-scale digging of city roads as part of the Smart City Mission, a new proposal to excavate the newly-laid roads and footpaths to lay natural gas pipelines has drawn the ire of Monserrate.Fresh digging will inevitably disturb the existing drainage gradients, weaken structural stability and generate excessive dust pollution, severely impacting public health, the minister had said. In a letter to chief secretary, Monserrate said that he should fix accountability as he was a chairman of the Smart City Mission and during that time the work could have been taken up.The mayor had also expressed similar views. “We are not in favour of the GNGPL breaking our newly tarred or concrete roads. It took us a lot of time and effort to get those things put into place. We will sit with them and see. We are not going to allow anything before monsoon. The priority of our citizens is paramount. If our people are going to feel any discomfort, then we are not going to allow it. They can extend their timeline by a little bit,” the mayor had said.
