Ready to play the role of oxygen hub for Northeast: CM
GUWAHATI:
Assam to Supply Oxygen to Meghalaya: Extending cooperation to Meghalaya in its fight against COVID-19 and intensifying the cooperation to contain the spread of the infection, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma told his Meghalaya counterpart Conrad K Sangma that the current mechanism of supplying 12-16 metric tonnes (MT) of medical oxygen to Meghalaya from the oxygen generation plants and oxygen storage points of Assam will continue without interruption as long as the situation permits.
Talking to the Chief Minister Meghalaya over a video conference on Tuesday in the presence of senior government officers to discuss the prevailing COVID scenario in Assam and Meghalaya, Chief Minister Sarma said that Assam would continue to supply Meghalaya 16 MT of medical oxygen per day from Amingaon and Bongaigaon as long as the situation demands. Reiterating Assam's role to contain the COVID pandemic in the Northeast and play a major part, Sarma said that a certain number of oxygen cylinders shall be kept ready for Meghalaya to be released as and when required.
Moreover, both the states agreed that Assam shall serve the whole of the north-eastern region as the medical oxygen hub with optimum utilization of its oxygen storage and transportation facilities. Sarma said that Assam will collect the liquid oxygen from liquid medical oxygen production units outside the region and store it in the facilities in the state, from where all other north-eastern states can take oxygen as per their need.
Chief Minister Sarma also requested Conrad Sangma to ensure smooth transportation of goods and passenger vehicles from the Brahmaputra valley to the Barak valley through Meghalaya. It may be noted that as Meghalaya is having five thousand numbers of active cases and some parts of the state are going for complete lockdown, Meghalaya Government assured that transportation of essential items to the Barak Valley will be seamless and interrupted.
On the request of Chief Minister Meghalaya, Dr Sarma said that to complete the second dose of vaccination of COVAXIN for a few individuals who had taken their first dose from outside Meghalaya, the Government of Assam will give 100 doses of Covaxin in exchange for a similar quantity of Covishield, a press release said.