NOMAN ZAHID
As more than eight years have passed since the proposal for making Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) available in Jammu and Kash- mir was made, the present government has finally understood the seriousness of the issue and has urged the central government to make the CNG facility available in JK soon. Top sources within the state dis- pensation revealed that the pro- posal to make the CNG available in Jammu and Kashmir has been sent to the GOI and the meeting in this regard is expected to be held soon. Sources said that in the past as well, several state experts had asked the government to launch the CNG here but the stoic silence of the successive regimes in the JK made the propos- al to gather dust for years.
At present when serious energy crises are being felt with people targeting government over its non- serious approach to address peoples’ woes, the urgency to bring CNG to the state is being felt on all fronts. As crores of rupees are being spent to bring the expensive fuel to the state, the questions are being raised that why no effort at all is being made to make CNG available across the JK which already i9s reeling under the energy crises. When contacted, the CAPD minister Choudary Zulfikar Ali confirmed that the issue has been raised by him before the union petroleum minis- try. “ Bringing CNG to the state is al- ready our agenda. We have met the union petroleum minister Mr Par- dan and have appraised him about the energy crises and the pollution level in JK. We are hopeful that the facility will be soon made available in the state,” said the minister.
In June 2007, the Jammu & Kashmir High Court had asked the state government and the Centre to establish a CNG pipeline network in the state. After few days, the then Union Petroleum Secretary MS Srinivasan stated that the GOI would soon es- tablish CNG pipeline to the state. “The proposal was earlier made by the state experts about the importance of the CNG in Jammu and Kashmir and it was submitted to the government. Even more than 8 years have passed, there is no forward movement being witnessed on the issue,” Though, more than eight years have passed but there has been no effort into the implementation of any such project in the state. Common masses have expressed surprise over JK being denied the CNG facility which has been real- ized in others parts of the world as a good alternative to conventional fuels used in transportation.
There are questions being raised that if railway lines and tunnels can pass and drill through mountains, why can’t CNG be transported into the state? It is being pitched that the state government must have a policy on energy with focus on exploring alternatives and fuels that are in- expensive. Hydel power being clean with an established infrastructure, is the most wanted, but with the cost of energy rising consumers are in a fix as whether to use this conventional means or opt for cheaper fuels. An official in the state’s CAPD de- partment revealed that the union petroleum ministry had written to the state government over its requirement for the CNG facility in the state but there was were no deliberations held over such an important issue within the government in the past. “The proposal was earlier made by the state experts about the importance of the CNG in Jammu and Kashmir and it was submitted to the government. Even more than 8 years have passed, there is no for- ward movement being witnessed on the issue,” said the official.
