Tamil Nadu's oxygen allocation increased to 650 MT daily

"Tamil Nadu started with 220 MT which was later increased to 419 MT and then to 519 MT and now the oxygen allocation is revised to 650 MT," he told reporters at the government Covid hospital here. 

With this revision of allocation, the state would receive 60MT of oxygen from JSW in Maharashtra's Dolvi, 46 MT and 50 MT from Linde at Rourkela and Kalinganagar, respectively, (both Odisha) and 50 MT from SAIL's Rourkela captive plant. It would also receive 25 MT from the re-opened Sterlite copper plant at the state's Thoothukodi. 

The Union Health and Family Welfare Ministry has revised the oxygen allocation to Tamil Nadu following the current scenario of active case loads. 

Meanwhile, another 140 MT has reached Vishakhapatanam from Singapore by sea and would reach Tamil Nadu by road. 

The Health Secretary said that the government has already held meetings with the Railways to have a contingency plan in place for any emergency situation. 

"If by chance, the Kalinganagar route is affected by the cyclone ('Yaas'), we have an alternate plan to bring oxygen through Jamshedpur, via train and for this, we have held meetings with the Railway officials. There is round the clock monitoring of oxygen requirements of the state." 

The Madras High Court had ordered the Central government to provide equitable distribution of oxygen to the state, with a bench of Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy noting that "the Union and the empowered committee should take immediate steps to ensure adequate supply of oxygen to Tamil Nadu".