The Andhra Pradesh government is building a buffer stock of about 400 Metric Tonnes of Liquid Medical Oxygen, in anticipation of the supply disruption this week because of Cyclone Yaas.
According to the IMD, Yaas is likely to become a Very Severe Cyclonic Storm and cross the north Odisha-West Bengal coasts around Balasore, on 26 May noon.
Though the Yaas impact on Andhra Pradesh is expected to be smaller, what is worrying the Jaganmohan Reddy administration is the possible interruption to its LMO supplies from the steel plants in Odisha - Angul, Kalinganagar and Rourkela. This could adversely affect the Covid-19 patient treatment in the hospitals.
Also read: Bengal, Odisha gear up for very severe cyclone Yaas; landfall likely near Balasore on May 26
AP has over two lakh active cases and is lately reporting over 100 Covid-19 related deaths daily.
The state has a requirement of about 640 MT liquid oxygen every day now.
“Since AP is largely dependent on the three plants in Odisha, any disruption in supply from there can cause severe distress in the state. We are anticipating a 48 hour disturbance,” MT Krishna Babu, state Covid-19 task force chairperson, told DH.
To mitigate such risks by keeping buffer stocks in the districts, AP has been augmenting the O2 supplies in the last three days, utilizing the Oxygen Express trains. Around 200 MT LMO is sourced this way from Rourkela, Odisha.
“We are, however, in constant coordination with the Odisha officials to ensure that the regular supply of around 200 MT daily through road transport tankers from Angul, Kalinganagar and Rourkela is not interrupted due to the cyclone,” Babu, who is principal secretary, AP transport department said.
The state is placing the 120 MT LMO received from the International Committee of the Red Cross through the Indian Oil Corporation in six cryogenic tankers at Vizag port on Sunday, as emergency buffer stock at Guntur and Tirupati.
The official thanked Reliance Industries Limited for sending over 200 MT LMO in three Oxygen Express trains last week.
“Since there is a shortfall from Ballari, we have requested the UP government and diverted their allocation of 80 MT LMO from Jamshedpur to Anantapur district,” Babu, also heading the State Oxygen War Room, told DH.
The AP electricity department is asked to ensure power to the three main LMO sources within the state – Vizag Steel Plant and Ellenbarrie Industries, located at Visakhapatnam and Liquinox Gases at Srikakulam, which together account for 210 MT supply. Officials are also ensuring continuous power supply at the 49 re-filling units which convert the liquefied Oxygen into gaseous form and distribute it through cylinders for use at hospitals.
Three AP districts on alert
On Monday, following a video conference with Home Minister Amit Shah on Yaas, Chief Minister Reddy held a review meeting with his officials on the cyclone preparedness. Three north coastal districts - Visakhapatnam, Vizianagaram and Srikakulam are put on alert.
Reddy instructed the officials to shift people from the low lying areas especially in Srikakulam, abutting Odisha, to safer places or relief camps.
Reddy asked officials to depute electricity department staff at the hospitals and also arrange for diesel generators there to ensure uninterrupted power supply so as the patients do not suffer.