With hospitals across Karnataka facing a severe shortage of liquid medical oxygen, H.K. Patil, senior Congress leader and MLA, has suggested that the State government utilise tanks available at the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) centres to store oxygen.
“In this emergency, national assets available at ISRO can be used to store liquid oxygen upto 17 lakh litres which will solve lot of problems in Bengaluru,” he tweeted.
Mr. Patil, who is also the chairman of the Public Accounts Committee of the State Legislature, met Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurpppa and provided various suggestion for stepping up production of liquid oxygen and its storage in Bengaluru.
ISRO has established hi-tech facilities for nitrogen and oxygen storages. According to scientists, nitrogen and oxygen facilities are interchangeably utilised with ease by minor modifications in valves, he said.
The Prof. U.R. Rao Satellite Centre, Old Airport Road, Bengaluru, has tanks having a storing capacity of 12.35 lakh litres of oxygen. The Integrated Satellite Indian Testing Establishment Centre (I-SITE) on the Marathahalli campus of ISRO has tanks with a storage capacity of five lakh litres of oxygen. From these storage facilities, oxygen could be transported to the end-use hospital facilities, the Congress leader suggested.
On the oxygen production front, Mr. Patil said manufacturing plants located in Ballari and Koppal are utilising only 5% to 10% of their capacity to manufacture medical oxygen, and some, less than 5% . Their potential should be tapped fully to meet the critical demand, he added.
