Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Monday told Prime Minister Narendra Modi that with the Covid caseload surging, his state will no longer be able to supply oxygen to Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, as was being done till now.
In a letter to Modi, Vijayan said the state produces 219 metric tonnes of oxygen and given its huge daily requirement, it is in no position to give this outside the state any more, and hence, it should be allowed to use it for its own needs.
The reserve stock of 450 tonnes of oxygen has now come down to 86 tonnes and with cases continuing to rise, Kerala should be given exemption with regards to oxygen supplies, he demanded.
He mentioned that the state will allow 40 metric tonnes of oxygen to Tamil Nadu till May 10, going by the May 6 decision of the Central Committee of Oxygen Allocation.
"However, after this, it will be practically impossible to allow oxygen to be taken out of the state considering the present situation," Mr Vijayan wrote to the PM.
Kerala presently has 4.23 lakh active Covid cases, and the daily test positivity rate is also at its peak of 28 per cent and given the spike, the total number of active cases is likely to cross five lakh very soon.
Currently, Kerala has 4,02,640 active cases and the number is expected to rise to 6,00,000 by May 15. keeping fast-growing numbers in view, the state will need 450 metric tonnes of oxygen by May 15, wrote Vijayan.
The chief minister further mentioned the central oxygen-producing unit of the state is Inox, located at Kanjikode in Palakkad. Its total production capacity is 150 metric tonne and with other smaller units, the state is producing 219 metric tonnes of oxygen each day.
The state is geographically far from the main steel plants, which makes the transfer of oxygen difficult. "I request that the entire oxygen produced in the state, i.e. 219 MT, may be allocated to the state of Kerala. This may be supplemented by the allocation from steel plants," Mr Vijayan wrote.
To manage the oxygen crisis, Kerala initially had ensured 450 metric tonnes of buffer stock without putting pressure on the national network. But due to demands from neighbouring states, the buffer stock was allowed to be transported.
Mr Vijayan has also urged the Centre to provide more cryogenic tankers, which can be joined by running Oxygen Express trains for Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu and Kerala to transport additional amounts of liquid medical oxygen.
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After Maharashtra, Kerala has been worst impacted by covid second wave and last week the Kerala government has imposed stricter lockdown which will continue till May 16. Only essential movements and vaccination centres have been allowed to operate.