The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has decided to set up oxygen refilling plants in Mumbai as a majority of the oxygen cylinders allotted for the city are reportedly being diverted to Thane and Navi Mumbai.
It is said that nearly half of the oxygen (50 per cent) is being sent to the two regions. As of right now, the civic body uses two oxygen plants to refill cylinders and eventually supply them to small hospitals across Navi Mumbai.
Additional Municipal Commissioner (Projects), P Velrasu said, “We are going to set up two oxygen bottling plants at Mahalaxmi Race Course and at Mulund’s Richardson and Cruddas jumbo centre. Once they are ready in a few days, jumbo and dura cylinders won’t have to be sent to bottling plants in Navi Mumbai.”
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“Once we set up our own bottling plants, cylinders from Mumbai won’t have to go to Navi Mumbai and they will be refilled here instead. This will end our dependence on private refillers,” Velrasu added.
Officials added that the state government had an oxygen quota for each district due to the oxygen scarcity in hospitals. As per the fixed quota, liquid medical oxygen or LMO is carried on tankers to refilling locations where empty jumbo and dura cylinders are filled and resent to hospitals accordingly.
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BMC officials went on to say that of the 240 metric tonnes (MT) that Mumbai needs per day, major hospitals can only provide up to 180 MT, while the rest is arranged from the dura and jumbo cylinder refillers such as Satramdas Gases and Phoenix Gases in Navi Mumbai.
After learning that 50 per cent of the 60 MT of oxygen was being diverted to cities like Thane and Navi Mumbai, the BMC wrote to the Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) commissioner, Parimal Singh and the Konkan Divisional Commissioner Annasaheb Misal directing them to depute officers to make sure Mumbai’s full quota is met.
“We have issued a show cause notice to one of the suppliers and will take action if oxygen supplies are not restored,” Velrasu went on to say.
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