Safer, cheaper, and far easier to use than LPG cylinders, piped natural gas (PNG) should have spread its network far and wide across Bengaluru by now. But poor multi-agency coordination triggering dangerous leaks, glaring awareness gaps, and lack of an official push have all slowed down the expansion of the network.
The city’s underground is a chaotic maze of sewage and water lines, electric and OFC cables. To make any sense of the crisscrossing lines, active coordination between multiple utility agencies is critical. The entry of GAIL Gas, with its network of high and low-pressure pipelines, meant that any digging by any agency had to follow a well-crafted standard operating procedure (SOP).
GAIL India insists that its sound and tested SOP has been shared with all the utility agencies. The SOP mandates that the agencies take permission from the gas utility before undertaking repair/maintenance work and immediately alert it in case of a leak. The agencies include the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB), the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), the Bangalore Electricity Company Limited (Bescom) and the multiple OFC cable companies.
