Telangana Government tightens noose around oxygen suppliers in Hyderabad

Hyderabad: To keep a vice-like grip over the transportation, marketing, and supply of the oxygen and to prevent black marketing of the cylinders to hospitals treating Covid-19 patients, the government has deployed officials of Revenue and Commercial Taxes at various gas refilling plants in the city and suburban areas to supervise the day to day requirement and keep track of the supply to hospitals.

Out of several gas plants in the city and suburban areas, in one such facility located in Gagan Pahad area under Rajendranagar a team of Commercial and Revenue officials are deployed under the supervision of MRO Rajendranagar K Chandrasekhar to keep track of the transportation of oxygen cylinders to hospitals and to prevent any sort of misuse.

"Only two weeks before a team of total six officials from Revenue and Commercial Tax Department has been deployed here at Surendra Industrial Gases at Gagan Pahad to monitor the supply of cylinders to various hospitals and the primary purpose is to ensure the adequate oxygen supply to hospitals and to prevent black marketing in the city as the demand for oxygen goes exponentially high these days due to the chaotic situation created out of the second wave. We are regularly keeping an eye on the supply of cylinders by day-to-day reckoning," informed K Chandrasekhar, Mandal Revenue Officer Rajendranagar and newly appointed supervisor at Surendra Industrial Gases at Gagan Pahad.

"As per the orders we are regularly monitoring the opening and closing account of the quantity of oxygen being supplied during the day and leftover in the refilling plant at the end of the day. The oxygen cylinders are being supplied to the hospitals only after taking into consideration the requirement of the hospitals besides maintaining day to day records, informed B Raju Deputy Tahsildar, Rajendranagar.

"We are procuring the LMO (Liquid Medical Oxygen) from Rourkela, Odisha. After getting the liquid form of oxygen we turned it into a gaseous form before refilling it into cylinders in our plant. Earlier we used to supply the oxygen cylinder only for Industrial purposes but in the wake of the second wave of coronavirus and the need arise out of a chaotic situation wherein patients are largely counted on the oxygen, the supply route has taken a diversion from industrial purpose to medical treatment. Now we are supplying 400 to 500 oxygen cylinders every day to at least 25 hospitals in the city. Daily we are receiving a request from 13 to 16 hospitals and accordingly supplying the cylinders. Even the officials are monitoring the refilling and supplying process in the plant now," informed Naveen, owner of Surendra Industrial Gases at Gagan Pahad.