O2'S RACE AGAINST TIME

Though Tamil Nadu is an oxygen surplus State, adversity of the current situation has its effect, with malpractices, disparity in demand & supply taking a toll over it’s abundance

After the State government on Thursday informed the Madras High Court that it has a storage capacity of 1,167 tonnes of oxygen, with a daily production capacity of 400 tonnes, Express takes a look at the ground reality in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry.

Coimbatore

The supply of liquid oxygen has gone down by one-third, say distributors in Coimbatore. they are requesting the government to increase purchase from neighbouring states and also to encourage in-State production.

A letter has been submitted to the government on Friday, demanding to offer subsidy to hospitals for setting up oxygenators.

A K Ravikumar, secretary of IMA (TNA) said, “there will be three times more demand than usual and short supply is unavoidable. the government should divert all industrial use of oxygen to hospitals. We drafted a letter to the State government on Friday, demanding to offer subsidy to hospitals for setting up oxygenators, ventilators liquid oxygen plants and ICUs on their own, with a GST relief. Also, we demand the government to take the entire supply of life-saving measures including oxygen and drugs to supply through TNMSC.”

The oxygen distributors are also pressing the government to streamline distribution. “We procure liquid oxygen from a private plant in Kanjikode, Kerala, and distribute it to over 400 customers in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Puducherry. We usually buy 15 tonnes per day. A maximum of 3 tonnes will be distributed for medical use. But, now purchase has gone down to 5 units per day and we require at least 6 tonnes per day, ”said D Lakshmikumar, manager of Sri Venkateswara Oxygen Private Limited.