Gail gas marker controversy: Officials say ‘human error, no scam’

Days after we unearthed what appeared to be a scam of claiming to lay a pipeline when only the marker was placed, the Gail gas officials in HSR Layout say that it was a ‘human error’ due to a miscommunication between the engineers and the contractors when the markers were being erected many months ago.

Nonetheless, this was a grave error as gas connections could not be provided because the pipeline was not laid on the right side of the road. Defending that it was no scam, P Guruchandran, DGM (CGD-O&M), HSR Layout & Jigani, said: “We have one dedicated person whose only job is to monitor the markers and underground pipelines to ensure no fire breaks out and so on. As the markers keep getting dislodged due to other service providers, we usually tell different contractors to go to those areas and erect a new one. In this case on 15th B Main, the markers were nowhere to be seen. So when the contractor called up one of our engineers, they told him to lay it in front of the Swabhimaana Park. However, the contractor (Likhita Infrastructure, a Hyderabad-based firm) assumed that ‘in front of park’ means ‘opposite the park’ and not ‘along the line of the park’. Therefore, the four markers on this stretch were wrongly placed.”

We hope that this is indeed the full story and there is no scam of a contractor stating to have laid a pipeline and claiming money for it. As proof, the DGM showed a map showing the pipeline running along the right side of the road where the pipeline was laid on 15th B Main more than three years ago. Then, why wasn’t the sketch given to the guys digging the footpath to give the connection? “That’s because they usually follow the broken markers and replace them, so there was no need for the sketch.”

However, we urge Gail Gas officials to become more vigilant as these errors are likely to happen again if the current methodology of giving oral instructions is adopted. Giving a sketch to the contractor erecting markers would be the best way to minimise miscommunication. In addition, the Gail gas officials should also inspect the areas where the markers are installed and cross-check them with the maps. How else did this error remain on paper for more than six months, if inspections were being carried out diligently as they claim? Clearly, it’s a major lapse in duty even if there is no scam as claimed by the Gail gas officials.