With the rapid spike in the number of people being infected with Covid – 19, oxygen shortage is experienced everywhere. To efficiently handle this demand, the first-ever oxygen refilling plant of the Udupi district has come up at Belapu, Kaup taluk.
The plant will supply hospitals and industrial units with industrial and medical oxygen cylinders. S N Cryogenics, based in Manipal, has started the plant on the premises of the Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board.
Speaking to News Karnataka Deputy Commissioner of Udupi G Jagadeesha informed that “earlier hospitals and industries in the Udupi district depended on three oxygen units in Mangaluru’s Baikampady and Karnad districts. Now, from April 28 as the Belapu unit is operational, reliance on other districts has reduced. Belapu oxygen refilling plant has helped the district to quickly handle medical emergencies.
The liquid oxygen will be delivered to the refilling plant from Bengaluru and Torangal, near Ballari. The plant will store 20,000 cubic metres of liquid oxygen at -180 degrees Fahrenheit and then refill the cylinders until the liquid oxygen has been converted to gas. Over 40 private and government hospitals in the district, including those in Udupi, Manipal, Kundapur, Brahmavar, and Karkala, will benefit from it.
Further, DC said that the Belapu plant is capable of supplying oxygen with lower shipping costs and in a shorter amount of time, which is definitely going to help the district to meet its increasing demand for oxygen and to handle the Covid crisis more effectively, he added.
Image Courtesy: The Hans India
