Energy sector rises up to Covid challenge

Country’s energy sector including coal has overwhelmingly acted upon the clarion call to provide life-saving medical oxygen supplies along with setting up hospital care facilities on an urgent basis to mitigate the second wave of the Covid pandemic.

Coal India’s efforts

Country’s flagship miner, Coal India, is battling Covid on several fronts despite the second wave affecting more than 5,400 of its extended family of employees, their dependents and contractual workers across subsidiaries, which has impacted operations.

It is adding Covid beds to its existing hospitals, setting up new facilities, providing oxygen, ventilators and oxygen concentrators and also sanitizing and disinfecting its equipment and machinery in all its subsidiary companies across eight states, to contain and prevent the spread of Covid.

To set up 25 oxygen plants

Coal India is pumping ₹35 crore into installation of 25 oxygen generation plants, across 22 hospitals, to ensure increased supply of the life-saving gas.

These O2 generation plants will be set up in CIL’s own hospitals and in district hospitals where four of CIL’s subsidiaries operate to support 3,328 beds.

Coal India has initiated mission ‘Praana Vayu’, for facilitating setting up of oxygen plants and providing ventilators at various hospitals and Covid care centres.

“Responding to the needs, Coal India has launched the mission, which is about providing oxygen support in various forms right from oxygen plants to oxygen banks,” the company said.

Coal India is assisting a hospital at Simdega in Jharkhand to set up an oxygen plant and an Intensive care unit facility at a cost of ₹99 lakh.

Another oxygen plant is being established at Railway Hospital Danapur at Patna at a cost of ₹55 lakh. The hospital provides tertiary care to East Central Railway and its neighbouring zones.