NEW DELHI, NOV 21: It is touted as the gift of the millennium for the housewives of Delhi. And it is not from their husbands. Come June and anyone cooking anything in Delhi, apart from political coups, would get a cooking gas supply direct to her kitchen. Or so the Delhi Government, which will have to cough up Rs 300 crore for the gift, would have us believe.So, should housewives (and house-husbands) in the city's 2 million houses be happy? For an answer, take a look at the task the government has: To cover all of Delhi, 7,500 kilometres of pipes are needed. Sources say 10 km of pipe will take around a day to be laid and cost about Rs 10,000. The process has been divided into three phases and starts next week with tenders being issued to contractors for laying down the pipes.The government promises to end the first phase in which 10,000 households will be getting the cooking gas and 250 km of pipes will be laid by March. Yet, this is after all one of those government deadlines: Followed more in thebreach than in their compliance.There are two big hurdles the plan has to overcome. The first is the digging and the attendant problems it brings. However, Rajeev Sharma, managing director Indraprastha Gas Limited (IGL), says they have found a way out. ``We are not going to dig up all the Capital. We will bore under all the major roads. For the other roads where we need to dig, we will have to negotiate with the MCD.''he second problem is that Delhi gets less natural gas than it needs. ``We get 0.33 million standard cubic metres daily. Delhi needs much more,'' says Sharma. ``But that is possible only when we show the demand by laying the infrastructure first.''Once available the piped natural gas a harmless methane component can be used for geysers, room heaters, generators and air-conditioners. However, these appliances would have to be bought anew as the old ones would not be compatible. But, the promised benefit is that the appliances would work on one-third of the electricity costs they nowrequire. In fact, hotels seem to have been sold out on the concept. The Taj, Oberoi, Surya Softel, Claridges, Ashoka, Samrat, Vasant Continental, Maurya and Ambassador would bring in the millennium not just with all the hot air about their dos but gas.Trying for natural gas are Apollo, Holy Family, AIIMS and Safdarjung. Even Connaught Place would be free of electricity by June next year.Earlier, the pilot project for the new fuel was organised by the IGL along with Gas Authority of India Limited (GAIL) in Kaka Nagar, at Bapa Nagar and Pandara Road. It cost Rs 3.5 crore and took an year.The semi-private project is spread over South Delhi, Central Delhi and North Delhi. It is being worked on by the IGL, in which the Delhi government has just 5 per cent equity, GAIL holds 27 per cent and other foreign financial institutions, mainly from the US and Singapore, hold the rest.Drilling, not digging, is the keySolid pipes will be laid from the mother gasline starting with the Indraprastha gasturbine station to smaller stations set up in colonies. But Delhites need not worry about project work digging up the landscaped lawns of South Delhi or the centuries-old structures of North Delhi. Contractors would need to prove that they are capable of drilling under the major roads, lawns and any ``untouchable'' structures. In the case of any digging, contractors would also be responsible for restoring what has been undone.From each colony, ductile PVC pipes would be laid to the doorstep of houses. Inside the premises, a hole would be drilled in the kitchen wall and steel pipes would reach the cooking gas appliances. The appliances would be metered and billed by an on-line metre set outside the house.
