GAIL India Ltd, the country’s biggest gas transporter, has deployed drones on pilot basis on its main trunk pipeline as it uses technology to secure its vast network, its director (pipelines) Ashutosh Karnatak said.

In the aftermath of the June 2014 accident at its pipeline in Andhra Pradesh that killed at least 18 people, the state-owned firm has taken a number of initiatives to raise safety standards including replacing old pipelines and using advanced technology.

“We have hired one drone on a pilot basis for aerial surveillance of the HBJ pipeline in the Chambal Ravines in Madhya Pradesh,” he told reporters here.

Based on the results, the company may decide to buy or hire more drones to monitor its 15,000-km pipeline network, he said.

The drones will be used to patrol the pipeline to detect physical abnormal activity like encroachment or intrusion on the pipeline.

For using drones, GAIL had to secure permissions from multiple agencies. Previously, the government had given permission to Indian Railways and the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) for similar purposes.

As line patrolling is extremely difficult for pipeline sections passing through forests, rivers, environmentally sensitive areas and other inaccessible areas, GAIL would use drones for aerial surveillance of 200 kilometres for the Hazira-Vijaipur-Jagdishpur/Dahej-Vijaipur pipelines.

GAIL has also started using satellite surveillance as well as PIDS or pipeline intrusion detection system to detect any breaches, he said adding the company has replaced old pipelines in the KG and Cauvery basin and Gujarat at a cost of about Rs 1,500 crore to prevent any accident.

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