The residents of the National Media Centre have had a harrowing experience over the past three days after the piped natural gas supply to their homes was cut owing to a damaged pipeline. According to them, the problem started on Friday as a result of which they were not able to cook and were forced to depend on food bought from outside. The residents also alleged that despite their complaint to the gas supply agency, it did not rectify the problem.
“There has been no supply for the past three days as the pipeline has been damaged. We are being forced to order food from outside and some have even bought induction stoves to cook.
I have been writing to their customer care team but have not received any responses. We can’t even use cylinders as we had to surrender them before getting the piped supply,” said Sanjay Ahirwal, a resident.
Sources at Haryana City Gas (HCG) blamed Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services Ltd. (IL&FS), which is executing the construction of a 16-lane road near the NMC. It has also claimed that IL&FS had not taken permission from it before digging the area. “The reason for the supply getting cut was because of the drilling machines used by IL&FS which damaged the pipeline. We immediately repaired the damaged portion but later found out that another 200m area was damaged and we had to lay a new pipe. This is the reason for the delay but we were able to restore the supply on Monday,” said an HCG spokesperson. He added, however, that such disruptions could happen again as construction work was still going on in the area.
The IL&FS authorities pointed blamed the HCG, claiming that it had laid the pipeline despite being told not to. “We had told them that the land in the area is disputed and asked them not to lay the pipeline. They went ahead anyway and did so at their own risk,” said a company official.