Andhra Pradesh CM Jagan writes to PM Modi to up O2 supply, provide 20 tankers
Vijayawada: Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy on Tuesday wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, seeking his intervention to increase the liquid medical oxygen (LMO) allocation to 910 tonnes and also allocate 20 LMO tankers to AP. He stated that this would help AP ensure oxygen supply to all hospitals to meet the needs of patients for oxygen.
The Chief Minister wrote, “Let me express my sincere thanks to the Government of India for the support given to the State of Andhra Pradesh in the management of COVID-19. We have geared up to take up this challenge under the guidance of the Union Government. The allocation of Medical Oxygen to Andhra Pradesh as on 24th April was 480 MT. On 24th April the caseload of the State was 81,471 active cases. On 8th May a revised allocation was made to Andhra Pradesh at 590 MT, however on this day our active case load was 1,87,392. Hence, the revised allocation is not at all commensurate with the increasing active cases.”
Mentioning difficulties being faced by AP to get oxygen from Odisha state, the Chief Minister stated, “Out of this allocation, 210 MT is allotted from Odisha which is around 1,400 km from Rayalaseema region. Getting LMO from 1400 km is leading to delays as availability of LMO tankers for transporting the Oxygen is also a constraint. The four Rayalaseema Districts and SPS Nellore district are continuously drawing Liquid Oxygen from Bellary (Karnataka) and Chennai (Tamil Nadu) and hospitals have binding contractual agreements with the suppliers from these locations.”
Jagan Mohan Reddy explained that the Andhra Pradesh state government was at present drawing 35 MT from St. Gobain, Chennai, and 25 MT from INOX, Sriperumbudur in Tamil Nadu. “This has to be maintained, otherwise our hospitals will face severe crises. On 10th May supplies from Chennai and Karnataka were delayed and led to the unfortunate incident of 11 persons dying due to lack of Oxygen in Tirupati. Further allocation from JSW, Bellary (Karnataka), has to be increased from 20 MT to 150 MT as this plant has enhanced its capacity recently.”
Stressing the need for oxygen supply augmentation from Odisha, the Chief Minister said, “Further allocation from Odisha suppliers also need to be enhanced substantially from current 210 MT to at least 400 MT. In addition, 20 LMO Tankers may also be allotted to the State to transport this extra allocation from Odisha using the oxygen express methodology duly tying up with the Indian Railways.”
The Chief Minister, appealing to the PM, said, “I request your intervention to increase the Liquid Medical Oxygen allocation to 910 MT and also allocate 20 LMO Tankers, so as to ensure that the oxygen supplies are ensured for all hospitals to take care of current patient load requiring Oxygen. Looking forward to your favourable orders in this regard to enable the State Government to fight the Covid-19 pandemic effectively.”
