HYDERABAD: Apart from procuring 13 more oxygen tankers from Singapore, Thailand and Saudi Arabia, the Telangana government is going big on having its own oxygen storage plant at Pashamylaram industrial area in Sangareddy district.
With the daily oxygen requirement set to touch 600 tonnes in the third wave of the pandemic, senior officials said the government does not want to take any chances after having seen the fallout of oxygen shortage leading to fatalities in some states which was badly hit by the second wave of pandemic.
Officials said the new oxygen plant will come up in an area of five acres in Pashamylaram, 43 km from Hyderabad, and about 200 tonnes of oxygen will be stored in it.
This storage plant will come in handy to meet any emergency health situation or oxygen supply shortage issues arising out of a surge in positive cases, an official said.
Sources said a private agency will maintain the plant, while both government and private hospitals will be allowed to utilise the facility.
Elaborating the government’s preparedness to tackle the pandemic, Covid-19 state task force committee member and principal secretary, industries, Jayesh Ranjan said all the efforts, including import of oxygen tankers from foreign countries, were aimed at taking care of long-term needs.
“While it’s too early to predict about third wave, we are gearing up fully.
Whether there is a third wave or not, we are augmenting oxygen supply infrastructure to take care of regular and emergency needs as well,” he told TOI.
Currently, the state has 12 oxygen tankers which were procured from Singapore and Bangkok.
Another 13 tankers will be procured from the three Asian countries as part of a bigger plan to meet future challenges.
“We are importing the tankers from Saudi Arabia also.
The government is keen on having 25 oxygen tankers at its disposal to meet any exigency,” a senior health official said.
Once the tankers land here, they will be sent to Odisha and West Bengal on railway wagons to bring oxygen.
Currently, Telangana gets its oxygen supplies from neighbouring Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Odisha.
Pointing out that manufacturing of oxygen tankers has not taken off in the country, senior officials said only a few countries manufacture the tankers, each of which costs more than Rs 50 lakh, carrying 20,000 litres of oxygen.
“The entire process to get oxygen supplies is cumbersome.
Not only we have to place an order for oxygen from other states, we also have to get the tankers brought to the state via road or rail route.
Plus, sending the tankers for a refill itself consumes a lot of days,” an official explained.