Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): The companies that dig up roads for laying gas pipelines have to bring them back to their original form. The roads have to be repaired within time limit. More than five kilometers of dug-up roads should not be left unrepaired.

The already dug-up roads should be made motorable, and then only permission will be given to dig up new roads. This provision has been made in the city gas distribution policy approved by the cabinet on Tuesday.

If the road-repairing work done by the company is satisfactory, the department concerned will return the bank guarantee to the farm that has laid the gas pipelines. Dig and Restore method will be adopted for repairing the roads, for which bank guarantees will be taken.

Permission is not required for those areas where Mediium Density Poly Ethylene (MDPE) pipeline network is already available. In such cases, the connection is given through old network, so the holes dug up for the purpose should be repaired in two days.

If the gas pipe company damages the old connections, they have to repair the pipeline. In the policy, provisions have been made for protection of the pipelines. It has been kept under the district disaster management scheme. All departments will be imparted training through mock drills for the purpose.

If the pipelines are damaged, the vehicles that will repair such pipelines have been given the status of emergency vehicles. A state-level committee has been formed under the Chief Secretary, and district-level committees have been set up under collectors. These committees will solve all problems.