Gail Pipelines Pose No Danger, Says Sc

The Supreme Court yesterday stated that in view of the safety steps taken by the Gas Authority of India Ltd (GAIL), there was no need for apprehension about danger from its gas pipelines in various parts of the country.

The court was disposing of a writ petition alleging that the high pressure gas pipelines laid by GAIL and ONGC were unsafe in certain places and were potentially hazardous. The petition was filed by a Delhi lawyer.

In reply, GAIL submitted a detailed affidavit with status reports rebutting the allegations of the petitioner. The affidavit claimed that GAIL has taken important steps to streamline safety aspects. For instance, the pipelines would have a three-layer polythene coating which has a higher resistance to handling damage and all future pipeline systems would be provided with optical fibre cable links to the various nodal points to ensure safe communication.

 

GAIL has been at pains to allay the apprehensions expre-ssed by the petitioner, the judgment said.

Looking to the material on record, we do not think that any further directions are required.