With 30+ members, oxygen panel one of the largest on Covid

NEW DELHI: The taskforce on oxygen transport and supply has become one of the largest government panels to deal with the Covid crisis with more than three dozen representatives from various ministries, railways, state governments and even PSUs like the Indian Oil Corporation. Sources said more representatives from different departments were being drafted in, considering the enormous task spread across the country.
Officials said the top representatives from the Centre include road transport secretary Giridhar Aramane and petroleum secretary Tarun Kapur. Nearly half a dozen state transport commissioners have also been made part of the task force. “The task force is keeping track of everything from procurement to supply and delivery across states round the clock. Different people have been assigned with different tasks,” said an official.
Meanwhile, sources in the transport industry said logistics relating to transport of medical oxygen remains an issue. The number of operational cryogenic tankers is around 1,700 and on an average the turnaround time of a road tanker is 16-18 hours. They added that in some instances of empty tankers are being transported by airlines to the filling stations to reduce the turnaround time.
“We need to be practical. The cost of cryogenic tankers is huge and there is no certainty if they will get business for long. The solution lies in ramping up installation of oxygen production facilities at hospitals,” said S P Singh of IFTRT, a think tank on transport issues.