Agartala, February 24 It is unlikely that the target of laying the pipeline in Tripura under the Indradhanush Gas Grid (IGG) will be achieved due to certain unavoidable circumstances, an official said on Tuesday.
Under the project, a 253 km-long pipeline was supposed to be laid in Tripura by March this year. Once completed, the project 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 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 the harsh terrain, heavy rainfall, and the absence of land ownership documents are reasons for missing the target.
"In Tripura, the terrain and excessive rainfall have slowed down the pipe-laying works at various locations, and heavy machinery cannot be taken to the sites. The work has also been severely affected during the monsoon," 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 do not have documents.
"If documents are not available, the owners will not receive compensation for the land acquisition. This has emerged as a major problem for executing the work on time. To address this issue, we are working with the local administration so that the land owners receive proper documents for their plots," he said.
Once the gas grid is completed, access to the gas discovered in various locations will be easier. Currently, the supply of both CNG and cooking gas is limited to Agartala only due to the lack of a gas grid, the official said.
The IGGL is a joint venture company promoted by IOCL, ONGC, GAIL, OIL and NRL, incorporated on August 10, 2018, to implement the Hydrocarbon Vision 2030 for North-East India.
