Liquid oxygen and oxygen cylinders manufactured at three companies at the SIPCOT Industrial Growth Centre in Perundurai here were transported to government hospitals in other districts amid tight police protection.
About 37 metric tonne oxygen is manufactured every day at the National Oxygen Limited, a public limited company, functioning at SIPCOT. Also, another private company on the premises manufactures two metric tonne oxygen while it also supplies 300 empty cylinders. Another company supplies 300 empty cylinders, both to government and private hospitals.
As the country reels under the second wave of COVID-19, the demand for medical oxygen has gone up with many hospitals facing severe shortage in supply of oxygen. Based on the direction of the State government, oxygen manufactured in the district is sent to the Government Erode Medical College and Hospital and to other government hospitals.
Superintendent of Police P. Thangadurai told The Hindu oxygen tanker lorries and oxygen cylinder-laden vehicles were escorted from Perundurai to the inter-district border at Pallipalayam, from where it was escorted by the district police to reach Salem and Dharmapuri. Likewise, oxygen was transported to Tiruppur and Coimbatore amid tight security, he added.
