THOOTHUKUDI: Oxygen Express from Rourkela Steel Plant in Odisha reached Thoothukudi's Meelavittan station on Monday, carrying 78.82 Metric Tonnes of liquid oxygen in five tankers rolled onto the wagon. The tanker lorries were rolled off on roads in the presence of Thoothukudi MP Kanimozhi Karunanidhi, Industries Minister Thangam Thennarasu and other ministers Anitha R Radhakrishnan and NP Geetha Jeevan.
Thennarasu told media persons that the 78.82 MT of liquid oxygen will be shared as 15.18 MT for Tirunelveli, 1.5 MT for Tenkasi, 13.38 MT for Kanniyakumari, 8 MT for Thoothukudi Medical College Hospital (TKMCH), 2 MT for Arasan Air Products in Thoothukudi, 8 MT for Thoothukudi gases, 5.5 MT for Sivagangai, 6.6 MT for Theni, 15 MT for Madurai Medical College Hospital, 6 MT for Kalyani gases and 3 MT for Arasan Air Products in Madurai.
The tanker lorries were escorted by a police vehicle, headed by sub-inspector, to ensure their smooth delivery. The State government had taken steps on war footing to meet the soaring demand for medical-grade oxygen across the southern districts, added the minister.
Thennarasu added that the Municipal Administration Minister K N Nehru and Education Minister Anbil Poyamozhi inspected Barath Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) industries in Tiruchy to ascertain the possibilities of reopening the oxygen plant. Also, efforts were made to operate the oxygen plant at Tamil Nadu Newsprint and Paper Limited (TNPL) that requires a compressor. The State had already introduced several subsidy schemes for the industrialists to launch new oxygen generation plants to meet the rising need for oxygen, he pointed out.
When asked about the Sterlite Copper that stopped oxygen production, the minister said that the technical glitch was fixed and the plant would generate oxygen in another three days.