Timely act saves Kerala from oxygen shortage

KOCHI: While other states are grappling with oxygen shortage amid the COVID crisis, Kerala is siting prety on a pile of oxygen cylinders and despatching the life saver outside the state, thanks to a timely decision by the Let Democratic Front (LDF) government to set up a Rs58 crore facility at Alappuzha in April last year.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan inaugurated the oxygen plant at Kerala Minerals and Metals ((KMML) in Alappuzha to produce industrial and medical oxygen.

Kerala has the capacity to produce 204 tonne of oxygen per day. As per the data on April 25, Kerala only needs 98.61 tonne of medical oxygen, said Dr R Venugopal, Deputy Chief Controller of Explosives in Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation (PESO).

Kerala has enough oxygen and it won’t face a shortage like other states, even if the COVID-19 case load increases, authorities said.

Kerala has four firms producing oxygen, besides 11 Air Separation Units (ASUS) located in Trivandrum, Kollam, Kotayam, Ernakulam and Thrissur. KMML and Cochin Shipyard produce oxygen for industrial purposes, and the surplus has been diverted to hospitals.

Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited is also supplying oxygen, a by-product, from its refinery in Kochi. Besides distributing oxygen in Kerala, Inox Air Products, and a private plant located at Kanjikode in Palakkad, has been catering to the hospitals in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka also.

The state also benefited from the establishment of 1000 litre oxygen tanks in small hospitals. None of the plants in Kerala are operating in full capacity.

An ASU with four-tonne capacity would be commissioned in Palakkad within a month, according to Dr Venugopal, the nodal officer responsible for monitoring medical oxygen in Kerala and Lakshadweep. The state also has 23 oxygen filling stations.

According to reports, Kerala has 105,000 COVID-19 patients who require oxygen support. They need 51.45 tonnes, and NON-COVID patients require another 47.16 tonnes, taking the total daily requirement of medical oxygen to 98.61 tonnes.