Piped Natural Gas Mandatory for Temples Offering Annadanam

Vijayawada: Civil supplies minister Nadendla Manohar on Friday announced that Piped Natural Gas connections would be made mandatory for all major temples in Andhra Pradesh where annadanam is conducted.

This is as part of the government’s attempts to expand clean and affordable fuel usage across the state. Reviewing PNG expansion works with senior officials and gas company representatives at the secretariat, the minister said the chief minister had directed that every major temple in the state should be brought under PNG coverage.

Some technical and infrastructure issues, he said, are however, delaying PNG implementation at temples such as the Kanaka Durga temple and the Srikalahasteeswara shrine. These would be resolved in coordination with the endowments department.

He directed the gas companies to speed up the connection works and assured them government support in making alternative arrangements wherever land constraints existed.

The minister said the government was keen on shifting consumers from LPG cylinders to PNG systems in a phased manner and asked the five PNG companies operating in the state to accelerate expansion in cities and towns. He promised quicker approvals for laying of the gas pipelines and setting up of PNG filling stations.

Special awareness campaigns and district-level publicity yatras would be launched to educate people on the benefits of PNG, including safety, uninterrupted supply and reduced expenditure on cooking fuel, he said.

Manohar also stressed linking PNG expansion with employment generation.

He said youths from ITIs, polytechnics and other skill institutions would be trained in PNG technical operations through the state skill development corporation. Each district would identify 100 youths every 15 days for week-long training programmes with free boarding, lodging and stipends.

Women’s self-help groups would be involved in spreading awareness on PNG usage through SERP and MEPMA networks. Gas companies were asked to coordinate with DWCRA groups and provide incentives for community-level campaigns.

Manohar further said the government was preparing simplified norms for tenants using PNG connections and said PNG consumers would also receive the Rs 2,400 annual subsidy under the Deepam-2 scheme.