JOIN USHope for better LPG supply in coming days
The LPG (domestic) consumers in cities and towns located in the southern Karnataka, including Bengaluru, can hope to get an effective supply of LPG refill from June next year. Reason: bulk LPG will be transported from Mangaluru to Bengaluru and Mysuru through pipelines, instead of tankers.
The Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL), which is implementing Rs 1,000 crore-project for this purpose, has already laid 280 kms of total 310-km pipeline. The pipeline-laying work is almost complete barring the few stretches near Bengaluru and Mangaluru. The project will, in all probability, be completed by March 2016, and it is likely to be commissioned in either May or June next year, HPCL Chief Manager (pipeline) Ramesh Ramaswamy said.
Currently, bulk gas is transported from Mangaluru to Bengaluru and Mysuru through tankers. Bulk gas is transported to LPG bottling plants located near these two cities. LPG refills will be supplied to the local consumers from the bottling plants. There are two bottling plants near Bengaluru – Yediyur and Kunigal. Another plant is located at Hebbal industrial area near Mysuru. As many as 350 tankers transport LPG gas to Bengaluru every day. The State capital has about 30 lakh LPG (domestic) consumers.
Travails of tankers
These tankers pass through narrow and steep roads in the Western Ghats, where movement of heavy and dangerous cargo is dangerous. Many stretches of Bengaluru-Mangaluru national highway near Shiradi Ghat repeatedly get damaged due to heavy rainfall, resulting in disruption of transportation of bulk gas. Gas supply also gets disrupted whenever the transporters resort to strike. Disruption in transportation of bulk gas directly affects supply of LPG refill to the consumers in all cities and towns in southern part of the State.
Ramaswamy said the transportation of gas through the pipeline will put an end to this problem.
The HPCL has acquired land temporarily from the owners for the project under the Right Of Use provision under Petroleum and Mineral Pipeline (Acquisition of Right of Users in Land Act), 1962.
Under the provision, the land will be returned to the owners once the pipeline is laid. The owners will be given only 10 per cent of the land value as compensation.
The owners can use the land for agriculture activities, but no construction activity is allowed on the land. Pipeline will be laid 1.2 meters below the ground. These are special grade steel pipes with polythene coating which is fire resistant, he added.