Jharkhand pumping O2 into nation’s lungs, 500 MT sent so far

Amid the Oxygen crisis that has hit the country in wake of the deadly second wave of coronavirus infection, Jharkhand on Tuesday sent 58 metric tonne (MT) of Liquid Medical Oxygen (LMO) in two tankers to the national capital from Linde India Oxygen Plant here in Jamshedpur, taking the total oxygen sent to various states so far to 534 MT.

“We flagged off two tankers with 58 MT LMO to Delhi Tuesday afternoon following CM Arvind Kejriwal’s request. I request Linde India to prepare and send Oxygen to Rajasthan since I received a similar request from CM Ashok Gehlot Monday. Hope this will help save lives of people in Delhi as well as citizens of Jharkhand living in Delhi,” Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren said, after virtually flagging off the tankers.

Health minister Banna Gupta said the state has sent 90 MT LMO to Uttar Pradesh (UP) during the past thee days, 80 MT to Haryana, 12 MT to Bihar and 20 MT daily to Jharkhand itself from Linde India’s two plants in Jamshedpur.

“The two Linde plants in Jamshedpur produce 2,550 MT and 1,290 MT Oxygen daily, respectively, of which 303 MT is LMO. We have suppled LMO to various states by 35 tankers,” Abhijit, Linde India senior manager, said.

Besides, SAIL’s Bokaro Steel Plant on Tuesday sent 64 MT LMO in six tankers on board the fourth Oxygen Express to Bhopal and Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh from Bokaro. This took the total amount of LMO transported by South Eastern Railway (SER) to 234 MT since April 23. Earlier, LMO was sent thrice to Lucknow (UP) from Bokaro.

East Singhbhum DC Suraj Kumar said two more tankers left for UP Tuesday evening from Linde India Plant, apart from the two to New Delhi. “We have three Oxygen plants and six refilling plants. We have procured 800 B type and 120 D type (jumbo) oxygen cylinders from local industries,” said Kumar.

Meanwhile, Tata Steel doubled its LMO production to 600 MT from 300 MT daily to supply it to seven states and five hospitals in Jamshedpur. A company spokesperson said they were now sending 600 MT Oxygen to UP, Bihar, West Bengal, Odisha, Jharkhand and MP from its three plants in Jamshedpur, Kalinganagar and Angul.