Shortage of oxygen in Marathwada worries administration

Aurangabad, April 21:

The growing shortage of oxygen for the serious Covid patients, in the region, has become a matter of grave concern for the administration.

There is a dire need for 49 metric tones (MT) of oxygen daily in the Hingoli district, but the available quantity is 6.5 tones only. The situation may go beyond control if the supply is not made urgently. One tank 10 tones capacity got emptied in Basmat. In the Beed district, the demand for oxygen is 2.5 crore litres daily. There are 1300 patients put on oxygen. According to sources, " the district hospital needs 790 oxygen cylinders daily. An additional arrangement of 55 lakh litres of oxygen daily is need of the hour in Beed."

There is a demand for 15 tones of oxygen in Parbhani. Here, the government hospital has one oxygen tank of 50 KL capacity and one plant of 20KL capacity is functioning on a private partnership basis. Parli's Thermal Power Station will be starting an oxygen plant (in Parbhani) within a couple of days. Till then the officials continue to face hardship in arranging the oxygen demand. Meanwhile, the supply of 15 metric tones of oxygen is made from two plants in Jalna. Hence the patients in the district do need not worry. However, many steel factories had been shut down for want of oxygen.

Meanwhile, the detection of patients in large number from rural parts of the district and arranging the oxygen for the serious patients has become a core issue to be solved immediately.