GAIL’s project to make Jamshedpur a ‘gas city’

Jamshedpur, Jan 8: Jamshedpur East MLA Saryu Rai has been told by the Gas Authority of India Limited (GAIL) officials that they are working on a plan to give Jamshedpur the status of a gas city. 

GAIL officials visited Rai two days ago at his residential office in Bistupur and requested him to resolve the difficulties faced in GAIL’s pipeline expansion at Jamshedpur. 

GAIL officials explained to the MLA that Jamshedpur can easily be turned into a gas city. Due to this, industrial pollution and vehicular pollution will end and the city will become clean.

GAIL officials said that work has started on the laying of PNG (Pipe Natural Gas) and CNG (Compressed Natural Gas) pipelines in Jamshedpur, but the work on laying the pipeline has not made satisfactory progress. Because they are not getting the required support from TSUIS (formerly Jusco) for this work as there is a long delay in getting necessary permission and even if they  get permission, it is withdrawn after a while. 

While GAIL has deposited about Rs 2 crore to TSUIS,  however, if any underground structure of TSUIS is damaged, GAIL is always ready to pay the entire cost of repairing it and rectifying the erosion of the roads due to the laying of the pipeline.

GAIL officials said that they have not received the detailed details of the route marking from TSUIS. If these details were available, it would be easier for them to determine the depth of their pipeline. 

Saryu Rai requested the Deputy Commissioner, East Singhbhum Suraj Kumar  to remove the difficulties in the way of laying the pipeline by GAIL. 

Rai also spoke to the Chief Secretary of the state over phone and said that the state government should remove the difficulties in the way of GAIL to make Jamshedpur a gas city and set a time limit for it. The Chief Secretary assured  Rai that he would discuss this with the higher officials of GAIL so that the obstacles coming in the way of making Jamshedpur a gas city could be removed and efforts would be made to get this work done at the earliest.

Rai said that Jamshedpur has several large and small industries and if fuel is produced from PNG, then the environment of the city would be clean. This apart there is ample scope of use of natural gas in hotels and restaurants and residential complexes also in Jamshedpur. Similarly, the convenience and priority of using CNG in large, small and medium-sized commercial vehicles and private vehicles plying in the city should be decided. 

At present, gas is being supplied to some houses of Sonari in Jamshedpur. The work of gas pipeline coming from Purulia to Jamshedpur is also a little left and the work of construction of gas gathering stations at various places is also in progress. In such a situation, if the state government and the administration of the district provide necessary assistance to GAIL as a public undertaking, then soon Jamshedpur will be included in the list of a gas city and the residents here will get proper environment.