The Madras High Court (HC) has ordered the Gas Authority of India (GAIL) along with the Union and the State governments to quickly implement the Kochi-Kottanad-Bangalore-Mangalore natural gas pipeline project in the state of Tamil Nadu.

The HC order came after a public interest writ petition was filed by a Madurai-based advocate S. Thamizharasan seeking speedy implementation of the gas pipeline project, reported The Hindu.

The petitioner through his counsel P. Veerakathiravan alleged that the machinery to install the gas pipeline had reached Coimbatore, Salem, Erode, Namakkal, Dharmapuri, Krishnagiri, and Tirupur districts, but the project has been stalled due to non-cooperation of the state government.

Further, in the petition, it was mentioned that the Union Ministry of Transport and GAIL had spent huge amounts of public money for the project, but the state failed to provide the necessary administrative support to implement the project in Tamil Nadu.

In 2007, the Indian Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, gave the authorization to install the pipeline, following which GAIL laid a gas grid covering more than 10,000km in various parts of India.

The petitioner fears that if the Southern Gas Grid is not laid in the state, it will be totally cut off from the National Gas Grid and the state will not get the natural gas.

The gas pipeline will supply compressed natural gas (CNG) that is expected to reduce pollution.