O2 crisis: Help sought from local bodies

Noida: The district administration has sought support from the local development authorities to tackle the shortage of oxygen for patients in home isolation, officials have said.
After a meeting on Friday, a list of large public sector plants is being prepared and the officials have zoomed in on Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited plant in Haridwar for supplies.
The development authorities will look at logistics and arrange for vehicles to bring loaded oxygen cylinders into the city.
Nodal officer for Covid-19 management and the chief executive officer of Greater Noida Industrial Development Authority, Narendra Bhooshan, said that businessmen who want to volunteer are being identified.
“We are hopeful that we will be able to match the demand of home isolation patients soon,” he said.
According to officials, 6,000 to 7,000 people are currently in home isolation in Noida and Greater Noida. With Covid facilities being given priority when it comes to supplies, non-Covid hospitals and people recovering at their homes are finding it even more difficult to get oxygen.
A member of 7X Welfare Group, an association formed by residents of the 7X sectors, Brajesh Sharma said: “Providing oxygen to families that genuinely need it for patients recovering at home will not only help them but also reduce the burden on hospitals and our health workers. People are panicking and rushing to hospitals as soon as oxygen saturation levels are dropping below 94 in some cases.” A few districts have developed a mechanism and some gas refilling agencies have been authorised to provide oxygen to patients who are recovering at home.
A nodal officer is appointed to oversee the distribution process and the gas manufacturing plant is asked to take down the details of patients, like prescriptions specifying why oxygen is needed, along with their Aadhaar cards.
Security deposit for cylinders and refilling charges have also been fixed.
In Meerut and Ghaziabad, the administrations have identified vendors who can be approached for refilling oxygen cylinders by furnishing the necessary documents.
In Gautam Budh Nagar, district magistrate Suhas LY said: “The situation is different in different places. Ghaziabad produces much more oxygen than Gautam Budh Nagar and smaller districts have limited number of cases and requirements. Our city’s need is different. But we are working on a plan to solve this problem.”
While the plant in Surajpur, Greater Noida, is being run in multiple shifts, three refilling agents in Dadri have been identified to supply oxygen to non-Covid hospitals.
“But since we do not have the capacity to produce enough oxygen to meet the current demand, we will have to bring it from Haridwar. It takes less than four hours to reach the BHEL plant in Haridwar from Noida,” an official said.