KOCHI: The Lakshadweep administration installed an Oxygen generator plant at Minicoy island with a capacity of 170 litre per minute on Monday.
The plant has been donated by Luthra Group, one of the leading processing houses in Surat, Gujarat. “Such an in-house captive oxygen generation facility would address the day-to-day medical oxygen needs of the hospital on the island. The system will ensure that the residents of the island do not suffer due to the dearth of oxygen in the future,” said Lakshadweep collector S Askar Ali.
The skid-mounted pressure swing absorption plant can provide oxygen to 50 beds.
Transportation of oxygen cylinders in Lakshadweep was a major area of concern of the administration since the pandemic started spreading in the islands. The island has to depend on Kochi for the supply of oxygen cylinders.
“We are compelled to send cylinders to Kochi by ships for refueling and dependence on the mainland is indispensable. The Union government has allotted two medical oxygen generation plants under PM CARES which will be installed in the Islands of Kavaratti and Agatti shortly. Three more islands namely Andrott, Amini, and Minicoy will get one oxygen plant each through CSR funds offered by corporate firms in Gujarat and Maharashtra for which the works have already started," the collector said.