Manipur CM inaugurates oxygen plant at Imphal’s JNIMS Hospital

Imphal: Amid a rise in COVID-19 cases, Manipur chief minister N Biren Singh on Friday inaugurated a 10 KL liquid medical oxygen cryogenic tank at Jawaharlal Nehru Institute of Medical Sciences (JNIMS) in Imphal.

“It gives me an immense pleasure to inaugurate the 10KL Liquid Medical Oxygen Cryogenic Tank at JNIMS today. I’m happy that we could deliver this plant to the people of Manipur within a record time and this plant will play a key role in meeting our daily oxygen demand at this juncture,” the chief minister wrote on his Facebook wall.

The oxygen tank, which was earlier dispatched from Gujarat, has a storage capacity of about 1,300 D-type oxygen cylinders.

Speaking at the inauguration, Singh said that the government was not sure in the beginning that an oxygen plant of such capacity could be installed within such a short period. However, with joint effort and collective hard work of all concerned stakeholders, it has become a reality now and it is like a dream come true at this critical juncture.

Singh also informed that another cryogenic liquid medical oxygen plant of 20 KL capacity would be installed in Imphal at the earliest to meet the oxygen requirement of patients, especially COVID-19 cases.

The chief minister also informed that an 80-bed dedicated COVID-19 hospital for children age below 15 years would be opened soon in the state given a rise in positive cases among children.

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On Thursday, the CM also inaugurated a Pressure Swing Adsorption (PSA) oxygen plant in Churachandpur district, the first such initiative in the hill districts. Another such plant will be functional soon in Thoubal district.

The state government is also planning to set up oxygen plants in each of the hill districts amid a rise in the number of COVID-19 cases.

At present, Manipur has around 4,000 oxygen cylinders and over 1,000 oxygen concentrators.