At the request of the state administration, specialist teams from the Naval Dockyard Visakhapatnam (NDV) jointly carried out repairs and audits of oxygen distribution systems and production facilities.
Working closely with state authorities, six naval teams have visited several remote locations in the state over the past few months and visited state hospitals in 12 cities, including Nellore, Tirupati, Guntur, Ongole, Rajamahendravaram, Anantapur, Vijaywada, Kakinada and Kadappa. This included visits to 15 major hospitals and four industries with oxygen generation facilities.
The specialist teams put the systems through their paces and worked out solutions together with the local administration. In several locations, the teams worked on live systems using techniques used on ships / submarines. This ensured that the patient’s oxygen supply was not interrupted. The teams also demonstrated and installed the multifeed portable oxygen distributor, developed by NDV and easily manufactured by the local industry.
The synergy between NDV teams and local authorities was best demonstrated when the cryogenic oxygen generation facility at Sri Krishna Teja Air Products, Nellore, which had not been operational since 2012, went into operation. The team stayed on site for a week to operate the facility and generate oxygen. This increases the efficiency of the state considerably.
NDV staff carried out work at the VSPA plant in Srikalahasti to upgrade oxygen for medical purposes. The Navy has also set up the Oxygen on Wheels facility in Palasa in the Srikakulam district to pave the way for oxygen-rich beds in a COVID care center.