In race in opposition to galloping Covid, Maharashtra is scrambling to attract oxygen

The first alarm bell rang on the afternoon of April 12 at Shree Ashirwad Hospital, a Covid-19 nursing residence in Badlapur, a satellite tv for pc city 50 km east of Mumbai.
For over a month, six big oxygen cylinders have been stationed on the footpath exterior the hospital entrance, and lots of smaller ones have been jostling for area within the slender corridors of the hospital. That day, most had been empty, awaiting substitute, however the vendor had no inventory to produce. The hospital had 47 Covid-19 sufferers, all on oxygen help, and 6 hours of oxygen left.
One physician started making frantic calls to households of six ICU sufferers, asking them to search out one other hospital, and one other started calling hospitals to verify if that they had spare cylinders or beds. As it turned out, 50 hospitals in Badlapur, Ambernath, Ulhasnagar, Kalyan and Dombivali (all municipal firms in Thane) had been quick operating out of oxygen. Their widespread provider, S Okay Agencies, was making determined calls to his distributors for liquid medical oxygen (LMO).
“We were under stress for hours. Patients could die without oxygen and no other hospital had bed or oxygen to take our patients,” stated Dr Datta Baikare.
By late night, the hospital discovered a vendor after agreeing to a better worth — Rs 21-25 per cubic metre, as a substitute of the same old Rs 17-18 — however at that time, little else mattered.
That day handed, however amid a rising Covid curve, concern of oxygen scarcity looms over personal and authorities Covid hospitals in Maharashtra, specifically rural areas, the place nursing houses and smaller authorities hospitals at the moment are scrambling to create area for oxygen cylinders.
Vicky Punjabi, proprietor of S Okay Agencies that provides oxygen in Thane, stated every day demand has gone up from 6 MT a month in the past to 21 MT within the 50 hospitals that he provides to.
With a capability to supply over 7,000 MT oxygen per day throughout the nation, the Centre plans to drift a young to import 50,000 MT to satisfy the surge in oxygen demand in 12 high-burden states: Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Chhattisgarh, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Punjab and Haryana.
In Maharashtra, the worst-hit state within the second wave, with over 6.38 lakh lively instances (40% of India’s Covid illness burden), demand for medical oxygen far exceeds the state’s manufacturing capability of 1,250 MT per day. Despite the complete manufacturing now diverted for medical use, it’s nonetheless not sufficient, with the demand 1,200-1,300 MT a day and rising.
Maharashtra has over 60,000 folks on oxygen help in hospitals and lots of others on oxygen help at residence. The state is getting 50 MT a day of liquid medical oxygen from Chhattisgarh, and one other 50 MT a day from Gujarat.
D R Gahane, Joint Commissioner (Drug), Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration (FDA), says, “If cases don’t dip, we may need to totally depend on other states for oxygen.”
“We need restraint (in oxygen use) to avoid panic. Panic and anxiety increase demand,” stated Maharashtra Health Secretary Dr Pradeep Vyas.
Oxygen scarcity has pressured Siddhivinayak Multispecialty Hospital in Badlapur to cease new admissions since April 12. Until January, the hospital may simply maintain 10 jumbo cylinders over two days, however now the ten cylinders barely final 5 hours. Doctors say Covid sufferers in ICU require 10-50 litres of oxygen per minute. A jumbo cylinder with 7 cubic metre oxygen can run out in 30-40 minutes. A dura cylinder, 22 occasions bigger than jumbo, is the brand new different for smaller hospitals.
In an try and plug the scarcity, the Centre’s Empowered Group-2 has determined to divert over 17,000 MT of LMO to the 12 surge states in three phases between April 20-30. But the oxygen provide chain has many extra knots to untangle.
“Logistics of transport is the biggest challenge,” says Saket Tiku, president of the All India Industrial Gases Manufacturers’ Association.
Vicky Punjabi of S Okay Agencies says that with demand going up, he wants extra drivers, automobiles and cylinders. “We don’t have that kind of resources.”
An trade official stated oxygen is transported in liquid kind in cryogenic tankers, earlier than being transformed into gasoline and saved in jumbo or dura cylinders.
An official from Inox Air Products, one in all India’s prime oxygen producers, that caters to 60 per cent of the nation’s LMO demand, stated the corporate has 550 tankers, every with a capability of 5,000-10,000 litres. The firm has diverted its sources from nitrogen and argon gasoline manufacturing to oxygen, the official stated. “There are enough suppliers in urban areas. The challenge is in satellite towns and rural areas where there are no storage tankers,” he added.
Maharashtra has over 100 cryogenic tankers to move oxygen. In an excellent state of affairs, it takes 3-5 days for oxygen to journey from a producer to the affected person’s mattress. But with sources stretched, rural hospitals are having to attend 6-7 days earlier than they get their provides. On Maharashtra’s request, the Ministry of Railways is formulating a plan to move cryogenic tankers in trains to hurry up supply.
At the Kulgaon-Badlapur Municipal Corporation Hospital in Thane, administrator Deepak Pujari stated that with 400 Covid-19 sufferers on oxygen help, he wants 5 MT oxygen every day. “Supply is prioritised to big cities and bigger centres. That is why smaller centres like ours face issues. It will be sorted soon, our collector is working on it,” he stated.
In every district, a crew with members of the FDA, collectorate and well being division has been tasked to evaluate the wants of hospitals and observe down suppliers to observe the circulate.
Back in Badlapur, on April 14, two days after hospitals ran out of oxygen, a truck stuffed with dura cylinders stops exterior Shree Ashirvad Hospital. Three medical doctors rush exterior to observe the unloading. “Oxygen is the most prized commodity right now,” says one in all them.