Amid oxygen crunch in Belagavi, neighbouring Dharwad comes to the rescue

HUBBALLI: While other districts in Karnataka are struggling to get sufficient oxygen supply to meet the demand amid a surge in COVID-19 patients, Dharwad, which has adequate stocks, has lent 20 MT of liquid medical oxygen to neighbouring Belagavi.

Dharwad district has more than 6000 active COVID-19 cases, of which around 2100 patients are on oxygen support. The district requires around 42-45 MT oxygen every day and it is being supplied 41 MT oxygen daily.

To meet the demands of Dharwad and for patients who get admitted at KIMS and other private hospitals from neighbouring districts, two huge oxygen tankers from Kuwait with 50 MT oxygen capacity had been sent to Dharwad on May 17. Of that, 20 MT was stored in KIMS hospital and the remaining 30 MT was sent to the neighbouring districts. On the same day, another tanker from Madhya Pradesh with 20 MT oxygen also reached Hubballi and waited for three days to get emptied.

Due to sufficient storage in Dharwad, the oxygen tanker on Thursday was sent to the neighbouring district of Belagavi where there was oxygen shortage.

Speaking to The New Indian Express, Dharwad deputy commissioner Nitesh Patil said KIMS hospital in Hubballi has a storage capacity of 40 KL and it was full after 20 MT oxygen arrived here from Kuwait.

"Apart from that, the district is getting 41 MT oxygen allotment every day. Oxygen tankers from Madhya Pradesh were supposed to arrive here last week but they are late. Meanwhile we were supplied from Kuwait tankers. Therefore the state government oxygen committee was consulted before sending the tanker that came from Madhya Pradesh to Belagavi where oxygen was required,” he said.

“As of now there is no issue with respect to oxygen in the district. We have sufficient storage and are also getting everyday oxygen allotment from the Jindal unit of Ballari. If there is requirement, we will request the government to supply more oxygen,” he added.