Kakinada-Srikakulam gas pipeline to be ready by 2019-end, phase two tenders soon 

Once the project gets implemented, people from Vizianagaram, Visakhapatnam and Srikakulam can bid adieu to the refilled cylinders. 

VIJAYAWADA: The State government which is planning to provide LPG through pipeline connection to the households in three North Coastal Andhra districts by the end of 2019 is all set to invite tenders for the second phase works. 

Once the project gets implemented, people from the three North Coastal districts of Vizianagaram, Visakhapatnam and Srikakulam can bid adieu to the refilled cylinders. The government has already awarded tenders in two packages for laying gas pipelines from Kakinada to Visakhapatnam under phase I and is in the process of calling tenders for the phase II works from Visakhapatnam to Srikakulam.

Speaking to TNIE, Energy, Infrastructure and Investment Principal Secretary Ajay Jain said works of the phase-I works from Kakinada to Visakhapatnam were awarded to contractors in two packages —  Kakinada to Pulaparthi (90 Km) and Pulaparthi to Visakhapatnam (90 Km).  The process for calling tenders for the pipeline works from Visakhapatnam to Srikakulam (95 Km) under phase II will begin soon, he said. 

For the first phase works, the contractors are mobilising necessary equipment for commencing works by mid-July. The works will be completed and commissioned by April 2019, he said.“The second phase works will be completed by December 2019,” he said. When asked whether they are encountering any problem with regard to land acquisition, he said the project doesn’t require large chunks of land. The officials did not come across any such hurdles except in a few villages, he said. 

“The district collectors were told to look into the problems of land acquisition so as to complete the project on time,” he added.“We are planning to give pipe gas supply to the households in the urban areas of the said districts by 2020. It will take some more time for extending the project to villages. Those want pipeline connections will be given,’’ Ajai Jain said.

Asked whether the use of refilled cylinders will become a practice of the past in the three districts once the gas pipeline project gets implemented, he said they would not force anyone to opt for the gas pipeline. 
People are free to take the decision on their own, he said.

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