Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government Thursday decided to expedite transitioning to piped natural gas for urban households while also focusing on implementing strict digital safeguards against irregularities in LPG supply.
The decision was taken at a high-level meeting that was attended by Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare Minister KC Patra, Housing and Urban Development Minister Krushna Chandra Mahapatra and senior officials of major oil and gas corporations.
Notably, the meeting was held two days after Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi announced in the Assembly that there is no scarcity of cooking gas in the state and the government was committed to protecting people’s interests.
The Centre has asked the state government to accelerate a transition to Piped Natural Gas (PNG) from LPG (Liquefied Petroleum Gas) and implement rigorous digital safeguards to protect consumers, Patra told reporters after the meeting.
He clarified that once a household receives a PNG connection, its existing LPG connection must be decommissioned to optimise resources.
The government aims to provide PNG to all the households in urban areas, and LPG will be served to rural consumers, he said.
To facilitate this shift, district collectors have been tasked with providing full administrative support to gas companies to ensure the swift laying of pipelines, the minister said.
Housing and urban development minister Krushna Chandra Mohapatra said that all major cities, such as Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Puri, Berhampur, Balasore, and Sambalpur, would be provided with PNG connectivity soon to reduce heavy dependency on LPG.
He urged all government and commercial establishments to switch to PNG connections immediately, and underlined that his department would provide expedited clearances for such transitions.
Mohapatra directed officials to prioritise setting up PNG supply infrastructure in Puri to meet the heightened demand expected during the Rath Yatra festival.
To combat the issue of ghost deliveries, where consumers receive false delivery notifications, the Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare Department’s Principal Secretary, Sanjay Kumar Singh, directed agencies to ensure full compliance with the Delivery Authentication Code (DAC) system.
There is no cause for panic about cooking gas availability, as the government is monitoring the situation around the clock, he said, adding the state has identified schools, anganwadis, Ahaar Kendra, and hospitals as priority sectors to receive uninterrupted gas supplies.
