Amid the acute shortage of medical oxygen in hospitals across the country in the fight against Covid, the Megha Engineering and Infrastructures Limited (MEIL) on Saturday imported three Cryogenic Oxygen tankers for Telangana from Thailand.
The oxygen tankers arrived at Begumpet airport in Hyderabad and MEIL PVT Ltd received them.
A total of 11 such tankers from Bangkok (Thailand) will come. Each Cryogenic Oxygen Tanker will be able to give 1.40 crore litres of Oxygen.
These tanks that will help to increase the supply of Liquid Medical Oxygen (LMO) to hospitals were provided by MEIL to Telangana state free of cost.
The first batch of three tankers landed at the Begumpet Air force Station here on Saturday, and the remaining eight tanks will be reaching here in a few days. Each cryogenic tank could supply 1.40 crore litres of medical oxygen, adding up to almost 15.40 crore litres of Oxygen from all the 11 tanks.
Speaking to ANI, Srinivas, the Director of MEIL said, "Under the MEIL's CSR activities, 11 Cryogenic Oxygen tankers have been ordered from Thailand and we have received our first batch today wherein three tankers have been brought from Thailand to Hyderabad with the constant support of Indian Air Force."
He further mentioned that all the Oxygen that MEIL is bringing will be handed over to the Government of Telangana free of cost to solve the problem of shortage of Oxygen. He said that the capacity of a single tanker is 20 metric tonnes.
Srinivas further mentioned that in few days the rest of the Cryogenic Oxygen tankers will be arriving at Hyderabad.
The first batch of three Cryogenic Oxygen tankers was brought in from Thailand with the assistance of the Indian Air Force (IAF). A Defence special flight that took off from Chandigarh has picked up the tanks from Bangkok before reaching Hyderabad.
Speaking to ANI, Captain Sunil Tomer, IAF Officer said that this is all a part of the larger plan that is to support India in the fight against the Covid pandemic. "IAF is always ready to do whatever required for the country to fight against Covid. We have already been moving Oxygen cylinders and tankers."
In addition to the top management of MEIL, Telangana Finance Minister T Harish Rao, a team of senior officers belonging to the advisory committee formed under the Telangana government's chief secretary Somesh Kumar, has been supervising the whole operation.
The Union Defence and External Affairs ministry granted permission for these tankers' smooth transport from Bangkok. A defence special flight from Chandigarh has picked up the tanks from Bangkok to bring them to Hyderabad.
"Transporting liquid Oxygen for medical purposes from the manufacturing plants to the hospitals is riddled with bottlenecks. Now, these 11 cryogenic tanks will help the State government to cater to the needs of the hospitals that are in dire need of oxygen," P Rajesh Reddy, vice-president, MEIL said.
The company is striving to bridge the gap between the supply and demand for medical oxygen in the fight against the Covid pandemic by supplying free oxygen to hospitals.
While the cryogenic tanks will cut short the time by facilitating the bulk movement of medical oxygen to healthcare units, the MEIL's initiative to import has also reduced the time of manufacture of cryogenic tanks, which would have taken three months to fabricate one tanker, the company said.
The company's management has kept all other operations on hold and is concentrating on augmenting the oxygen supply to both the Telugu States. It has taken up the procurement of cryogenic tanks as a priority.
From MEIL's Bolarum facility, between May 9 and 21, the company has delivered 29,694 metric tonnes of LMO, which translates to three crore litres of oxygen. On average, 400 cylinders are being supplied from this facility.
( With inputs from ANI )
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