More than 100 empty oxygen cylinders were seized from the industrial areas of Mandya and Srirangapatna taluks, by the respective tahsildars, on Thursday night.
According to the officials, even after the government appealed to hand over the cylinders meant for industrial purpose, to tackle the shortage faced by Covid patients, some industries had kept the cylinders and were allegedly transporting them to Bengaluru.
Mandya Tahsildar Chandrashekar, who conducted a raid on a transformer manufacturing unit at Tubinakere industrial area, seized 70 cylinders.
There were 77 cylinders, including 70 jumbo cylinders, that can be used for medical purposes. He seized the 70 cylinders and shifted them to the central godown in Mandya. While 40 cylinders can be immediately used, the remaining 30 can be used after cleaning. Besides, 29 more cylinders were found at other two units. They would be seized after seeking opinion of the technical team, if they can be used to fill oxygen, Chandrashekar said.
Around 35 oxygen cylinders were seized by the taluk administration at DBL Company camp, that were used for the national highway works, near Gananguru, Srirangapatna taluk. A team, led by tahsildar M V Roopa seized the cylinders.