Amid reports of hoarding and blackmailing of oxygen cylinders in different parts of the Union Territory, the J&K government on Tuesday evening decided to depute Magistrates to maintain a strict vigil in industrial plants producing the gas.
Responsibility has been fixed on these magistrates to ensure that cylinders filled with oxygen, produced from these industrial units, must reach straightway to the destinations. These directions have passed after reports emanating from different areas that some elements are indulged in hoarding oxygen cylinders for black marketing.
Principal Secretary to Lieutenant Governor, Nitishwar Kumar today instructed Divisional Commissioners of Jammu and Kashmir divisions to keep a strict check on the black marketing of oxygen cylinders and deploy Magistrates and concerned staff to cross-check the supply of oxygen cylinders reaching their destinations from the source industrial plants.
As reported earlier, the J&K government has decided to involve the private sector to ensure oxygen supply in the hospitals, across the Union Territory.
Instead of depending on existing plants in different hospitals, authorities have decided to purchase oxygen from the private sector to meet any challenge in the future. In this regard, a high-level committee was constituted to ensure an adequate and timely supply of medical oxygen to all hospitals for meeting the requirements of COVID patients.
Work on oxygen plants going on war-footing
Civil works for most of the plants have been completed and the same would be made functional at the earliest besides, test runs in some of the installed oxygen generation plants are also being done after which they will be made functional to their designated capacity. The government has decided to set up 36 oxygen plants, across the UT, within the shortest possible time. All Deputy Commissioners have been directed to closely monitor the works and use the option of employing multiple teams and night shifts wherever necessary.
