HYDERABAD: The extent of the Oxygen needs in each State during the Covid-19 second wave can be gauged by the supply of Liquid Medical Oxygen (LMO ) that steel plants had to generate. According to answers given in the Lok Sabha by the Union Government, Steel plants in Telangana had to produce a total of 16,035.33 metric tonnes of Liquid Medical Oxygen (LMO) across three months.
The initial requirement in April was 4,362 metric tonnes, which doubled with 8,986 metric tonnes getting supplied in May. In June, this fell to 2,685 MT, supply by steel plants. What is interesting here is that in May, Telangana was the fifth highest generator of LMO from steel plants following Karnataka (20, 990MT), Andhra Pradesh (16,019MT), and Maharashtra (13,162MT).
However, despite generating such amounts, the State had to bring in LMO from States such as Odisha and Karnataka, to meet its needs. Meanwhile, Telangana has attempted to set up PSA Oxygen plants in each district hospital with some of them even having the capacity to refill cylinders and supply for internal use. In fact, the State government in mid- May had ordered to set up plants across 48 government hospitals in the State which would generate upto 324 tonnes of oxygen in a go.
691 CASES, 5 COVID DEATHS IN TELANGANA
Seeing a further decline in Covid-19 cases, Telangana saw 691 cases on Wednesday. The active cases are now at 9,908 with only 565 individuals lodging a recovery on the same day. The number of deaths for the day were five, taking the toll to 3,771. The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation saw a rise in cases with 85 new infections, followed by 56 in Khammam and 55 in Karimnagar. The fourth highest cases were reported in Suryapet with 47 infections