Telangana gets 358 MT oxygen from Odisha
318 metric tonnes of oxygen brought to Hyderabad
Hyderabad: As much as 358 metric tonnes (MT) of liquid medical oxygen (LMO) reached the city during the last 24-hours and the government initiated steps to get another 105 MT LMO through trains and Indian Air Force flights in a couple of days.
The 24 oxygen tankers driven by the TSRTC and other department drivers reached the city from Angul in Odisha. The officials said the tankers were being brought to ensure that there was no shortage of oxygen in the state. Immediately after unloading the LMO, the empty tankers were sent through train and flights on Saturday.
The government sent five more tankers with 15 MT totalling 75 metric tonnes through trains from the Sanathnagar Goods Complex. Transport special secretary Sunil Kumar and Commissioner MRM Rao visited the goods complex and also the Begumpet Airport on Saturday to monitor the transport of the tankers. The official further said that two empty tankers with a capacity of 15 MT each were sent through Indian Air force flight to Bhubaneswar.
MRM Rao said that along with rake (train), a team along with compressor, generator, automatic/ mechanical/pneumatic device to remove/fix tyres of tankers was also being sent. The commissioner said that this was done to reduce the overall time taken to bring oxygen to Telangana. It would take two to three days to reach the filled in tankers to the city by road. The commissioner said that the vehicles were fitted with GPS tracker, to track these to monitor and reduce the overall time taken to reach the city.
The officials said that this was an effort from the government and on the other side companies and manufacturers were also bringing oxygen.
The officials said that though there is not much severity like in the case of Maharashtra, the government has been taking steps to maintain stock of oxygen to overcome any shortage in the wake of the cases which require hospitalisation.
The daily consumption of medical oxygen in the state is over 200 MT and it can go up to 380 MT if cases increase.
The suppliers have been asked to reduce the oxygen supply to industries and allot to the health sector.