Six tankers return from Odisha after oxygen refilling

Carry 90 MT of oxygen back; eight more tankers to be airlifted from Telangana today

An oxygen tanker outside the District Hospital in King Koti, Hyderabad, on Monday.

Six out of the nine tankers, which had been airlifted to Angul in Odisha through Indian Air Force aircraft (C-17s), returned to Telangana by road on Monday. The six tankers carried over 90 metric tons of oxygen. The remaining three are expected to reach here by Tuesday morning. It was learnt that eight more tankers would again be airlifted on Tuesday morning.

Of the six, four were sent to government hospitals in Hyderabad, and one each to Khammam and Karimnagar. In Hyderabad, the tankers were sent to the Telangana Institute of Medical Sciences, Government General and Chest Hospital and District Hospital in King Koti.

310 MT needed daily

Put together, the nine tankers were expected to bring 150 metric tons of oxygen. This would meet half the daily requirement of around 310 metric tons in the State.

Of the 310 metric ton allotment, around 125 metric tons is produced in the State and the rest 185 has to be brought in from other States, including from a steel plant in Angul, located around 1,040 km from Hyderabad.

To cut down the time, the nine tankers were airlifted from Hyderabad in two IAF aircrafts on Thursday morning. After three days, they were driven backl to Hyderabad and other places in the State by drivers of Telangana State Road Transport Corporation. Teams of officials from various departments including Health and Transport were part of this operation.

There is severe requirement of oxygen as small scale private hospitals are not able to admit patients in requirement of the medical resource. If there is no shortage of it, more beds will be available at hospitals.