Kasargod, which suffered during Covid-19 due to a lack of oxygen plants, now has an oxygen plant that can cater to the needs of the district
During the second wave of covid-19, the Kasaragod district in Kerala reeled from a lack of oxygen. There were instances when patients were discharged from hospitals due to oxygen shortage as the district was heavily dependent on Kannur or Mangalore in Karnataka to meet its demands.
Almost a year later, the Kasaragod district panchayat is building an oxygen plant that can produce 1000 litre per minute to be able to meet the needs of the hospitals in the region.
The total project cost is Rs 3, 20, 00, 000, out of which, Rs 1, 42, 00, 000 was provided by the district panchayat and the rest was raised by various panchayats, municipalities and blocks panchayat. The PSA oxygen equipment itself cost about Rs 1, 79, 00, 000.
Baby Balakrishnan, president, Kasaragod district panchayat led by LDF said, “We suffered very much during the Covid-19 crisis. We had to raise about 300 cylinders and take it to Kannur, stand in queue for two to three days and fill it. That’s when we thought why the district can’t have its own oxygen plant. The decision was taken in April 2021 and the tender proceedings were over by July 2021.”
She added that there is a monopoly in this field as there are just two to three companies in the production and distribution of medical oxygen and that’s why they have taken this initiative.
At this PSA oxygen plant in Kasaragod, they can provide medical, as well as, industrial oxygen. The plant, which has a capacity to produce 1000 litre per minute, daily 200 cylinders can be filled.
“We have already received orders from the government, private hospitals in the district and also from automobile industries which require industrial oxygen,” she said.
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