Three cryogenic tanker lorries of a private company that were being used to transport LNG, which were seized by Motor Vehicles Department (MVD) personnel and handed over to Petronet LNG for being cleaned and adapted to transport liquid oxygen in bulk, got safety certification from the Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation (PESO) on Monday.
Each of these tankers can transport up to 15 tonnes of medical oxygen. The PESO certification is mandatory to change their category from tankers that transport LNG to those that can ferry medical oxygen, MVD sources said.
The vehicles which had been idling since September, were seized by an MVD team led by Ernakulam Enforcement RTO Shaji Madhavan from a workshop in Thripunithura where they were lying prior to their annual fitness test.
“We acted on the basis of directions issued by the District Disaster Management Authority [DDMA]. Once Petronet modifies the tankers for safe transportation of medical oxygen, they will be tested by officials of PESO and certified fit for the purpose. The body has specified SOPs, which, among others, mention that there must not be any hydrocarbon content in the tankers, to transport oxygen,” said R. Chanthu, Assistant Motor Vehicles Inspector who apprised Ernakulam RTO P.M. Shabeer and Mr. Madhavan about the potential to adapt the lorries to ferry the much-needed oxygen, following which they gave their go-ahead for the proposal. Mr Chanthu also did the groundwork to trace these idling lorries.
The MVD is helping combat COVID through activities like enabling safe and smooth transit of lorries carrying oxygen, arranging vehicles to carry oxygen in bulk and also enabling safe loading and unloading of cylinders. The department has also helped install beacon lights, GPS, and sirens on the vehicles.
The Industries Department and the Factories and Boilers Department have already begun enabling the process to clean oxygen cylinders that were being used in industrial units for use in hospitals.
