The towering apartments in the City these days have a Reticulated Gas System or Piped Gas system in place, an economic facility where LPG is transported through pipes to houses from a centralised “gas bank.”
Safety is ensured with multi-level regulation of pressure and automatic shut off system in both kitchen and the gas bank, in case of gas leakage.
The advantage is that a user can pay according to his consumption recorded by a metre placed in the kitchen and have an uninterrupted gas supply all year.
"We have installed this system for four high-end apartments now. Three months are needed to set this up in an apartment with 250-300 flats.
The residents can skip worrying about booking gas cylinders and additional service charges,” informs Shankarkumar from ProGasTech, an authorised contractor for the IOC (Indian Oil Companies). He adds, “we also ensure it is safe through annual maintenance contract.”
The distribution of LPG cylinders lies in the hands of the localised gas agencies across the City. Of higher importance is their responsibility to provide products that are not faulty to ensure people’s safety.
“We usually print the precautionary safety steps on the bill itself for their referral, and of course our telephone numbers," says Prasad S, manager of an agency in Govindarajnagar area.
He adds, "The use of government authorised Suraksha company's multi-layered pipes for the cylinders ensure no leakage. We replace them every five years. Complaints about O-ring leakage come often, which is also replaced by our mechanics. “Bi-annual inspections are conducted by the officials of the gas companies.”
Customer care numbers come to the rescue to address problems that fall beyond official timings of the local agencies. “We get, on an average, six complaints in four hours. Majority of them are subsidy queries and 2-3 pertain to gas leakage.”
Although fire department officials say they are sceptical about the expertise of gas agencies in handling such complaints, Chandu, a customer care operator insists there is a system in place.
He explains, “Over the phone we take the complainants through the process of working during a leakage crisis. First we ask them to turn off the regulator, then move the faulty cylinder to an open space.
Meanwhile, we warn the nearest service agency to send their mechanics for inspection. We take calls from consumers who avail gas service from all Oil Marketing Companies.”