Torrent Gas has sought Greater Chennai Corporation’s permission to cut roads to lay gas pipelines in Chennai. The development comes in view of the meetings held with various line agencies to implement the project.
The Greater Chennai Corporation will collect a track rent of Rs 9,400 per km for the pipeline. Further, the respective zonal officers would give clearance for digging roads under their control once the proposal is submitted for each location. Meanwhile, the approval will be given after studying the traffic congestion on each road. All the 40,000 streets and 471 bus route roads will be covered in the project over a period of eight years.
According to reports, the pipelines would be laid at a depth of 1.2 metres, inside a chamber-like structure, and the gas would be passed at a reduced pressure. These would initially run from nearby petrol bunks and will be connected to the bigger network later. Meanwhile, the private city gas distribution network company expects to receive gas from Indian Oil Corporation Limited at its Vallur terminal by February 2021, after which the gas supply via vehicles would take place.
Torrent Gas will pay Rs 2 million to the Greater Chennai Corporation as restoration charges for every 1 km of road cut for bituminous roads and Rs 2.18 million for restoring 1 km of cement concrete roads. Further, the cost of shifting any utilities will be borne by the company, which is also executing the work in Tiruvallur, Nagapattinam and Karaikal districts. The estimated cost for Chennai and Tiruvallur stands at Rs 50 billion.