BENGALURU: After an alert over a shortfall in oxygen production was sounded on Monday, the situation was said to be getting to near-normal by late Tuesday evening. Health Minister Dr K Sudhakar said after the repair and maintenance work at plants in Ballari hit oxygen production, the shortage caused by a technical flaw was effectively tackled.
“The situation was very well tackled. The shortage did not affect the treatment of Covid patients. The situation was handled well so that there is no scarcity everywhere in the state. The available oxygen was used in an equitable manner. This was made possible by proper management of additional inventory,” Sudhakar said.
Government officials working with the oxygen units in the state said that the two units — Air Waters and Praxair in Ballari — which had stopped production due to technical glitches, had started manufacturing and normal supply started from Tuesday evening. As a result, the situation will be back to normal by Wednesday morning. The two units, together, generate and supply 260 MT of oxygen to the state.
According to State Government figures, the total allocation of oxygen for Karnataka has also been enhanced from 1,015 MT to 1200 MT, of which 830 MT is manufactured and procured from within the state itself. The allocation and supply of oxygen from manufacturing units till May 24 was 728.36 MT and there was a shortfall by 286.64 MT, against the allocation of 1,015 MT.