Rajamahendravaram: Authorities encourage production of oxygen for Covid patients

Rajamahendravaram: Oxygen scarcity is causing panic among corona patients as many of them are due to non-availability of the same. To combat the problem, the State government took a decision to produce oxygen from air.

At present, liquid oxygen is being converted as medical oxygen to cater to the needs of the corona patients and Visakhapatnam Steel Plant (VSP) and Ellenberries Industries Limited in Visakhapatnam are manufacturing liquid oxygen.

As many as 42 refilling units are functioning in the State, of them four units are in East Godavari district, Visakhapatnam district seven units, Srikakulam district two units, YSR Kadapadistrict two units, Ananthapur district two units, Chittoor district three four units, Kurnool district four units, Nellore district six units, Krishna district six units, Prakasam district one unit, Guntur district three units and West Godavari district one unit.

The four oxygen refilling units in East Godavari district have a capacity of 69 metric tonnes and refilling about 2,000 cylinders per day.

Meanwhile, the Government General Hospital in Kakinada started its own medical oxygen plant with 1,700 kilolitres capacity. The government headquarters hospital in Rajamahendravaram is also maintaining six kilolitres capacity of medical oxygen plant.

Speaking to 'The Hans India' here on Sunday, District Industries Centre (DIC) general manager Srinivas said that the government is encouraging the entrepreneurs who are interested to make medical oxygen through air.

So far, in East Godavari district four persons applied to start the units and the government will provide loans with subsidy facility. If air separators come, medical oxygen problem also be solved, he said.

Coromandal Industrial Gases Private Limited owner Mohan Rao said 100 cylinders will be filled and supplied to the government by using one metric tonne of liquid oxygen."We are getting liquid gas from Visakhapatnam," he added.