Setting up 48 plants across Delhi to address oxygen shortage: Kejriwal
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday inspected the installation of the new oxygen plant at Satyawadi Raja Harishchandra Hospital. He said this plant can generate 330 litres oxygen which can fill 50-60 cylinders, and if used directly, around 33 patients can be treated 24×7.
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Kejriwal extended his gratitude to the French government for its support to help install this oxygen plant. Kejriwal also said that the Delhi government is setting up 48 such plants across Delhi to address the oxygen shortage.
Kejriwal tweeted: “Inspected the installation of the new oxygen plant at Satyawadi Raja Harishchandra Hospital. I want to thank the French govt for their support. We are setting up 48 such plants across Delhi to address the shortage of oxygen.”
Kejriwal said: “Delhi has seen an acute shortage of oxygen in the last few days. While on one hand, we are taking oxygen from the Central Government, on the other hand, we are also trying to produce as much oxygen as we can at our own level. We are at Harishchandra Hospital right now where a 330-ltr oxygen plant has been installed, which has the capacity to fill 50-60 cylinders a day. If taken directly through the pipeline, 33 patients can be sustained on it for 24 hours. This is expected to help the 200-bed hospital. About 48 similar oxygen plants are being installed across Delhi, out of which 21 are being imported from France, and the rest are from India. Though these are small plants, I feel they will provide a lot of support to the entire system that is under pressure due to shortage of oxygen.”
Responding to a query on Delhi’s oxygen needs, he said: “I would like to thank the Central Government, Supreme Court, and High Court. It is with their efforts that yesterday for the first time, Delhi received 700MT oxygen; otherwise, we used to get 300 or 320 MT on some days, and on others, it would be 400-450 MT oxygen. You might have noticed that in the last 24 hours, there have been no messages regarding oxygen that’d last only a few hours. Delhi’s oxygen requirement is 700MT, and if we get this daily, proper arrangements can be made in Delhi’s hospitals. With sufficient oxygen, we can even set up additional beds. There are several hospitals that have reduced their beds due to oxygen shortage. If sufficient oxygen is available, all Delhi hospitals can work at full capacity. And many hospitals have told us that they can work beyond their capacity as well, and can set up 50-100 extra beds. In times of such a pandemic, we need to increase as many beds as possible.”
On the issue of vaccination of 18-44 category, Kejriwal said: “In the last three days, vaccination of the 18-44 category has begun in Delhi. A lot of enthusiasm can be witnessed among them. I visited many centres and saw a lot of young people; I’ve also been receiving several messages appreciating the arrangements we’ve made at Delhi government schools. I appeal to the youth to please get vaccinated and also get their parents and everyone in their homes vaccinated. In the end, vaccination is the solution, and we don’t want anybody to fall sick.”
Decentralised management system for distribution of oxygen: Kejriwal
Under the direction of Kejriwal, the Delhi government is ramping up the capacities to transport liquid oxygen in the city.
The Delhi government has appointed two IAS officers at the Kalinga Nagar facility of Tata Steel where oxygen is being produced. The government has formed a decentralized management system for the distribution of oxygen within the city to various hospitals and institutions. Principal Secretary Transport and OSD Health — Ashish Kundra — on Thursday held a zoom meeting with senior Delhi government officials and journalists and briefed them on the following issues.
On 5 May, Delhi received around 360MT oxygen through the railway route. Railway supplies and containerized cargoes are an efficient way of supplying liquid oxygen. Delhi is gradually ramping up capacities to transport liquid oxygen.
The oxygen supply chain has become more efficient through the railway movement. Through tankers and containers, Delhi is getting oxygen supply from areas that fall nearby, such as Panipat. The Delhi government team tracks the movement of each and every tanker for obstacle-free movement. The Delhi Government has got a GPS tracking system on 41 tankers carrying oxygen in the city. A dashboard has been prepared, and Amazon has been roped in as a partner to track the cargos carrying the liquid oxygen in the National capital.
Delhi Government has now formed a decentralized management system for the distribution of oxygen within the city to various hospitals and institutions. All the DMs are tracking each and every re-filler and making sure that it reaches the earmarked destination. The Health Department has also issued an order to revive the dealer network of oxygen cylinders. All dealers who were providing industrial gases, have been linked with the re-fillers. The dealers provide cylinders to the retailer outlets for citizens.
The government is also creating a buffer stock for oxygen and 505 D-type cylinders have already been distributed to 11 Deputy Commissioners across the city. The Delhi Government is also making an appeal through this medium for the donation of cylinders.
You can log onto the official website delhigov.in and click on the tab that says Covid donation. A control room will be formed by 7th May to monitor the real-time dashboard of the oxygen supply and demand in the city.
