Divert oxygen cylinders for medical need: Health dept

GUWAHATI: The Assam health department has asked oxygen vendors to get ready to divert the entire amount of oxygen generated by them for medical supply, after the Centre predicted that the medical oxygen requirement in the state may go up to 85 metric tonnes amid the pandemic in September-October.
The vendors, despite being aware of that diversion of the entire oxygen produced by them for medical purposes could affect the industries, have agreed to cater to hospital needs only.

“According to the Government of India’s prediction for September-October, the requirement of medical oxygen may go up to 85 metric tonnes. That’s why the vendors, who are supplying medical oxygen in the state’s hospitals, have been asked to reduce oxygen supply for industrial purposes and be ready to divert the entire oxygen for medical supply. In case of any medical emergency, the entire industrial supply of oxygen will be fully diverted for medical purposes,” director of medical education, Anup Kumar Barman, told TOI on Sunday.
He said Assam’s daily oxygen production is 52 metric tonnes, while the requirement of medical oxygen for Covid as well as non-Covid use is 24-25 metric tonnes. “Though most of the oxygen supplies from the vendors in Assam go for medical purposes, industries also consume some portion, and the share could be crucial at this hour. It was notified to the vendors to reduce the industrial supply of oxygen, except for emergency requirements. But, if any medical emergency arises, health will get priority over industry,” Barman added.
While he said oxygen production was around 52 metric tonnes, the storage capacity had reached more than four-fold in the state. “The storage capacity of oxygen is more than 200 metric tonnes in Assam, which is huge as compared to the state’s production,” said Barman.
Health department officials said Assam-based vendors, which supplies medical oxygen, have been instructed to procure liquid oxygen from other states to meet the emergency needs. Though West Bengal is the major supplier of oxygen to Assam — with the state receiving some contributions from Jharkhand — the health department is worried about the requirement of oxygen in those states.
In the next two-three days, two cryogenic tank cylinders with a capacity of 40 kilo metric tonnes will be commissioned in the Gauhati Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) to store liquid medical oxygen, while in the other medical colleges the work order has been given to procure such cylinders. “The advantage of the cryogenic tank is that it has huge storage capacity and will be connected to ICUs directly with pipelines. However, the vendors will also have to get ready for the challenge,” Barman said.
Meanwhile, some of the leading vendors have almost stopped the supply of the gas to the industries in view of the alarming situation. “As of now, industries are hardly getting any oxygen supply. On moral grounds, our company is diverting almost the entire 1,000 tonnes of oxygen for medical purposes. For the last two months, we have not supplied gases to the industries, barring some rare instances,” said Pravin Jain, director of Meghalaya Oxygen Private Limited, one of the major oxygen suppliers. Except for some urgent construction activities undertaken by the government, he said regular supply to the industries was unlikely to resume anytime soon.