India, April 5 -- For nearly a decade, the residents of Chandigarh, Mohali, and Panchkula have been sitting on a goldmine of convenience that was never tapped. Piped natural gas (PNG), touted as a cheaper, safer, and more reliable alternative to LPG, remains a phantom service for the vast majority of the tricity. Despite infrastructure being laid as far back as 2016, the project has been smothered by administrative apathy and a lack of accountability. In Chandigarh, only 22,000 households are connected to the grid out of a potential 3.08 lakh. While Indian Oil-Adani Gas Private Limited (IOAGPL) has laid pipelines across 30% of the city, including Sectors 32-38, 40-51, and Manimajra, the transition has stalled. In Mohali, only a 12-km stretch on Airport Road and patches of Phase 7 and 8-B have been covered since 2016. The administration is so disconnected that it is only now seeking basic connection data from the firm. Meanwhile, in Panchkula, the initiative remains a non-starter. It took the West Asia conflict for our local authorities to wake up. With 60% of India's LPG imported and supply lines through the Strait of Hormuz vulnerable, Chandigarh's sudden scramble to meet a 1-lakh connection target in 90 days feels like panic. Under the Natural Gas Distribution Order, 2026, residents now face a switch or lose ultimatum: Adopt PNG within three months or risk losing LPG supplies. This carrot and stick approach unfairly punishes the consumer for the government's own inertia. To fix this, accountability is paramount. An audit of the last nine years must determine why agencies failed to convert existing pipes into kitchen connections. The administration must enforce the "deemed approval" mechanism, bypassing departmental delays for pipeline expansion. The focus must shift to the commercial segment of hotels and restaurants to drive volume. Mohali and Panchkula should immediately digitise consumer maps to identify "dark zones" where pipelines exist but meters don't. Finally, a door-to-door campaign is needed to explain the long-term economic and safety benefits. The tricity prides itself on being a modern hub, but as long as dry gas lines lie beneath the feet of residents waiting for cylinders, that claim remains hollow. It is time to turn the valves on....