The Southwest and Coffee Region of the country were paralyzed by the suspension of gas service, which is essential for different vital tasks. However, the president of Transportadora de Gas Internacional (TGI), Mónica Contreras, assured that there are already some areas of Armenia, Cali, Cartago, Manizales, Palmira and Pereira that already have service reconnection.
The board pointed out that the gas will be reconnected in a gradual and orderly manner, taking into account that the TGI delivers the gas to the distributors at the entrances of the cities and these meet the demand of homes, businesses and the industrial sector.
“Distributors are beginning to meet two types of demand: the first to connect is homes and commerce, and that happened this afternoon, in many of the areas we already saw homes connected such as Cali, Cartago, Palmira, Armenia and Pereira,” Contreras said at a press conference.
After more than fifty-five municipalities were affected, in six departments, it was stressed that the gas service only began to be reconnected to commercial establishments and homes, however, for the industrial sector it was It would start at 9:00 pm this Thursday, May 25.
On the other hand, the international gas carrier explained that it has made an investment of approximately four million dollars in infrastructure to guarantee supply despite the conditions.
So things, around 4:00 pm the natural gas service began to be restored in some neighborhoods of Manizales and the Valley. In fact, the Efigas del Eje Cafetero company confirmed that the benefit was already in the neighborhoods: La Enea, Lusitania, La Florida, San Marcel, Los Molinos, Villahermosa, La Rambla, La Carola, Alto del Perro, San Cayetano, Solferino , Fatima, La Estrella, Palermo, Belén, El Cable, Malabar, Aranjuez, Camilo Torres, Santos, Guamal, Villa Carmenza, El Prado, El Campín, Vélez, Cristo Rey, Versalles, El Paraíso, Alférez Real, Arrayanes, La Fuente and neighboring
Likewise, according to Efigas, 69% of the natural gas service in Quindío has been restored. Meanwhile, in Armenia it is already normalized and in several of the eight municipalities it is expected that tonight I will reach 100 percent.
The users, excited by the return of the public service, shared on social networks the flame of their stove that was relit.
The president of TGI asked the inhabitants of the affected municipalities that until the reconnection is complete, they should not leave the stoves open, as it could cause an accident.
After the PMU installed for the evaluation of the contingency in Cerro Bravo, the Minister of Mines, Irene Vélez, pointed out:
“Attention: Once the PMU ordered by the Pdte. Gustavo Petro, together with Transportadora de Gas Internacional SA in Cerro Bravo, announce that, gradually, within 12 hours, the domestic natural gas service will be restored in the Coffee Region and the Southwest of the country”.
Within the framework of her speech, the head of the Mining Ministry explained that the technical comprehension tests began with the gas service operations teams; These works allow the gas to be sent to the main pipes during Thursday.
According to the official, homes in the affected regions could have gas in the next few hours, in addition to smaller businesses. Meanwhile, on Thursday night and early Friday, the gas will most likely reach industrial areas.
“With this, we can say that in the next few hours the gradual restoration of the natural gas service will begin. for homes, in addition to small businesses, already at night it will be done with industrial users”.
For its part, the Caldas Governor’s Office confirmed the minister’s information, in addition to making several clarifications on the subject. In this case, it was explained that This process will be gradual and slow due to the pressure with which the gas must enter the pipes. The main recommendation for distributors is that the public be urged to execute a responsible use of the product in order to avoid any type of risk.
After the discovery of the gas and steam outlet in the La Virgen sector, close to the Cerro Bravo volcano, the Colombian Geological Service (SGC) reported that progress was made in the analysis and evaluation of said phenomenon that, up to now, has not produced any results. “the cause of this outflow of gases.”
These studies are carried out by the SGC with the support of the Caldas Risk Management Office, Transportadora de Gas Internacional (TGI), the National Highway Institute (Invías) and Corpocaldas.
According to the institute, together with the company in charge of the operation of the gas pipeline in this sector, TGI, they will carry out a chromatography of the gases emitted along the 20-meter section of the Bogotá-Manizales highway to measure methane levels. and other gases in the area.
