Punjab writes to neighboring States seeking supply of liquid oxygen

Alarmed over the surge in coronavirus cases coupled with mounting fatality rate, the Punjab Government has written to the neighbouring states of Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttarakhand seeking supply of liquid oxygen amid fears of shortage by September end.

The Government has also asked the key oxygen manufacturers in the State to prioritize oxygen supply to the hospitals. In fact, the Deputy Commissioners of the worst-affected districts, including Ludhiana, Bathinda, Amritsar, Jalandhar, have been asked to hold talks with the refilling plants and oxygen manufacturers in their respective areas to enhance the production of medical oxygen. The development came two days after the state Health and Family Welfare Minister Balbir Singh Sidhu had claimed that there was no shortage of medical oxygen in the State, and had maintained that elaborate arrangements for manufacturing and refilling of oxygen cylinders have been made to ensure uninterrupted supply of medical oxygen in government and private hospitals across the State.It has been learnt that amidst worsening situation in terms of COVID-19 outbreak, the state authorities are struggling in tackling the steep demand in oxygen supply.

Currently, the oxygen demand is around 90 MT per day, against around 22 MT per day required some two months back. Currently, the state has the capacity of about 100-120 MT per day.

The government is expecting that the oxygen requirement to government and private hospitals will increase in the coming days considering the high number of cases the state is reporting every day. “We want to be prepared, and that was why we are ensuring enough oxygen supply,” a senior government official told The Pioneer.

As on Sunday (September 13), as many as 501 patients are on oxygen support, while 93 are critical and on ventilator support. These numbers has witnessed a multifold increase from the respective figures of three and five in May, according to data from the state Health Department.

The state Principal Secretary (Industries and Commerce) Alok Shekhar, in a letter to the three states, alerted about the shortage of liquid oxygen, and requested them to direct the industrial units in their states — Air Liquide in Haryana, INOX Air Products in Himachal and Linde India in Uttarakhand — to increase the supply of oxygen to Punjab.