The Centre has allotted extra quota of 20 metric tonnes of medical oxygen to Punjab from Gujarat even because the state continues to reiterate its demand that oxygen ought to be made accessible to it from close by sources because of logistical constraints. A tanker after getting full of liquid medical oxygen (LMO) from Hazira in Gujarat would take about two and a half days to achieve Punjab taking the street route.
According to Punjab Covid Control Room incharge for oxygen provide Rahul Tewari, “To lift 20 MT daily quota from Gujarat, we require minimum five tankers, because one tanker will lift a quota of 20 MT and reach Punjab in two and a half days, decant the oxygen supply, and would take as much time to get the tanker refilled there. So, one tanker would lift 20 MT of oxygen in five days. We need five tankers to lift 20 MT from Gujarat, but we have got only two tankers. This would mean that we would be able to lift quota for two days and would not be able to lift our quota for three days. This is the reason, we are not being able to avail our quota from far off places as we are short of tankers.”
However, the extra allocation has raised Punjab’s whole quota of the life saving gasoline from 227 MT to 247 MT.
A Union Health Ministry letter to Punjab authorities on Monday stated: “In the light of consistent increase in Covid cases and on the request of the state government of Punjab, the following special allocations are proposed to be made — 20 MT allocation proposed from Inox, Hazira against additional production and stocks.” The extra quota was allotted after approval from the empowered group coping with the oxygen provide.
On May 10, the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways had accredited two tankers having a capability of 20 metric tonnes every for Punjab within the mapping of 12 ISO containers/tankers (LNG) by the Indian Oil Corporation Limited to states.
These two containers had been scheduled to reach in Punjab on May 13, however had been re-routed to Hazira on Tuesday to elevate extra oxygen provide allotted to the state.
Demand for oxygen in Punjab had doubled from 152 MT to 304 MT in a fortnight until Monday.
In addition to twenty MT quota from Gujarat, Centre has allotted Punjab 90 MT from three crops in Bokaro, Jharkhand, 60 MT from a plant in Himachal Pradesh, 25 MT from two crops in Uttarakhand and 20 MT from a plant in Haryana. There is extra 32 MT diverted for medical oxygen from industrial models inside the state.
Punjab at present has round two dozen huge cryogenic tankers for transportation of liquid medical oxygen and round one other 5 for native transportation of the gasoline from the state and adjoining services close to the state, making it tough to avail the allotted quota with restricted variety of tankers.
To add to the state’s woes, the tankers airlifted to Bokaro, from the place most quota has been allotted, don’t make it to the ‘Oxygen Express’ as majority of those don’t fulfil most peak ceiling of three.5 metres, and therefore must take street path to fetch the gasoline, taking round 4 days as in comparison with 30 hours if transported via rail.