COVID-19: Now, a shortage of empty oxygen cylinders in Mumbai

The severe shortage of oxygen in city hospitals due to a sharp surge in COVID cases has crippled the supply chain with a new challengemdashscarcity of empty O2 cylinders Suppliers who are already struggling to arrange for liquid oxygen say they are now not getting enough tanks at regular intervals for refilling as hospitals have stored too many fearing they might run out of their stocks If this was not enough black marketeers are also working overtime to stockpile the lifesaving gas and selling it at thrice the market priceSuppliers say empty cylinders are not coming to their plants regularly PicsHanif PatelWhile oxygen shortage has forced the BMC to shift several patients from one facility to another in Mumbai the situation is equally grim in VasaiNalasoparaVirar with hospitals in the area seeing an unending flow of patients It recorded 908 positive cases on Sunday and has 8367 positive patients The virus has claimed 24 lives in the belt since April 16Poor availability of liquid oxygen the raw material has kept everyone in the supply chainmdashfrom suppliers to hospitals to families of gasping patientsmdashon the edgePrasad Raut who owns Speed Oxygen told midday ldquoWe are not getting adequate amounts of liquid oxygen to convert it into gaseous oxygen to meet the high demands from hospitals Our supply is affected by 50 per cent The hospitals are not in crisis but we can say that there is a shortage of oxygenrdquo The company said it has been getting requests for oxygen from several hospitals in MumbaiThe owner of Leo Oxygen Nitin Serejo said ldquoMost hospitals have stored filled tanks to meet future demands as there is a severe shortage But because of the storage there is a crisis of empty oxygen tanksrdquoSerejo said oxygen tanks are not easily available and one has to wait for at least 4550 days to get one ldquoSince hospitals are fully occupied with patients who need oxygen support the new lot of COVID patients are preferring to remain homequarantined for the treatment instead of doing rounds of hospitalsrdquo he said adding ldquoThe price of one small oxygen tank whose capacity is 1320 litres is Rs 3500 but it is sold for Rs 10000 The black marketeers are minting moneyrdquoA man fills an oxygen cylinder at a plantAtul Paraskar MD of Ozone hospital in Nalasopara explained the situation ldquoWe have to get the oxygen from a plant that is at least 8 km away We send our own vehicle and ward boys but still donrsquot get enough cylindersrdquoLocal activist Wasim Karari said the unavailability of empty tanks is a huge worry for the alreadystressed patientsrsquo families He said ldquoThey are either purchasing the empty cylinders in black or have been advised to get tanks used by welders or fish growersrdquoKarari said they have arranged at least 50 such cylinders He has mobilised local boys to find out those who need oxygen supportFisherman Zuber Poji from Nalasopara said he has given away 10 cylinders to the needy for free as his business is nearly standstill due to the lockdown Anab Patwari another fisherman from the area too has chipped in with 10 tanksSpeed Oxygenrsquos Raut said they are getting help from the government but the rising caseload has disrupted the entire system His firm also caters to Palghar district ldquoOur target is to supply 4000 jumbo cylinders per day to Palgharrdquo Each such cylinder can carry 7000 litres of oxygenKarari said he is being helped by Abbas Poji of Sudhakar Committee and Farhan Wadrick He added ldquoA few doctors including Dr Shah Mohammad Farooq Dr Aslam Deshmukh and Dr Talha Chinde are supporting us in giving treatment to homequarantined patients in need of oxygen supportrdquoRs 30 a doctorDr Shah Mohammad Farooq has been going door to door to treat for free patients who fail to get a bed ldquoI have been performing roja every day but my priority is to give treatment to patients who are in dire need of itrdquo Dr Farooq owns Rehmat Medical Centre in Nalasopara where the consultation fee is Rs 30 ldquoA group of six local boys are getting me the health updates of patients on oxygen support at homerdquo said Dr Farooq who hardly gets to spend time with his family members in this seasonRs 10000Black market rate of an oxygen cylinder