Chennai: The second wave of Covid-19 wreaked havoc in Tamil Nadu like other states in the country. There was a shortage of oxygen cylinders in the state as patients gasped for oxygen. Amid the crippled oxygen supply, people from various quarters tried to contribute in their capacity but the social media influencers have proved their mettle once again. For the first time, several YouTubers teamed up to raise over Rs 20 lakh to set up an Oxygen plant via a series of live broadcasting.
Also, some of the actors co-hosted the series called 'We For O2' to raise funds for the Government Hospital's Oxygen Center in Thiruvannamalai. Following this, many have praised the initiative, saying, "This is not a normal event, digital media is created by people and served for the people. As the Government of Tamil Nadu takes various measures to increase the production of oxygen in the state, such an initiative will inspire many people.”
Earlier, the second wave of Covid spread like a wildfire across the country, causing oxygen shortages and fatalities. In the states including Delhi and Uttar Pradesh, where the incidence of oxygen shortage was huge. After that, many states began to realize the importance of oxygen.
This was followed by deaths due to a lack of oxygen in states like Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. On May 5, for the first time in Tamil Nadu, 13 people died due to lack of oxygen. Later, due to the oxygen shortage in Tamil Nadu, fatalities grew rapidly.
That’s when the newly elected Tamil Nadu government has taken the onus to work towards the issue and procure as many oxygen concentrators as possible. Recently Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) imported 750 oxygen cylinders from Singapore as the first consignment. CM MK Stalin flagged off the vehicle on Saturday, while the oxygen cylinders will be distributed to the tier-II cities of the state.
CM MK Stalin said Defence Information Technology Contracting Organisation (DITCO) had announced that it would operate on a partnership basis with companies with an investment of at least Rs 50 crore and had asked Indian and foreign companies interested in setting up plants by May 31.