Agartala, Feb 24 : The target of laying the pipeline in Tripura under the Indradhanush Gas Grid (IGG) is unlikely to be achieved because of certain unavoidable conditions, an official said on Tuesday.
Under the project, a 253 km-long pipeline was supposed to be laid in Tripura by March this year. The project, once completed, will help supply CNG and LPG in various parts of the northeastern state.
“So far, we have been able to lay 170 km of gas pipeline in the districts like North, Dhalai, Unakoti, Khowai and West. In the second phase, the pipeline will be laid in Sepahijala and Gomati district,” the official said.
Three companies are working on laying the pipelines.
The official said that harsh terrain, heavy rainfall and the absence of documents of landowners are reasons for missing the target.
“In Tripura, terrain and excessive rainfall have slowed down the pipe-laying works at various locations, and heavy machines can’t be taken to the sites. During the monsoon, the work suffered badly,” he said.
The official further said that 80 per cent of the proposed pipeline passes through the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC) region, where the landholders don’t have documents.
“If documents are not available, the owners will not get compensation for the acquisition of land. This has emerged as a major problem for executing the work on time. To address the issue, we are working with the local administration so that the land owners get proper documents against their plots,” he said.
Once the gas grid is completed, access to the gas discovered in various locations will be easier. At present, the supply of both CNG and cooking gas is limited to Agartala only because of the lack of gasgrid, the official said.
The IGGL is a joint venture company promoted by IOCL, ONGC, GAIL, OIL and NRL incorporated on August 10, 2018, towards implementing the Hydrocarbon Vision 2030 for North-East India. (PTI)
