Mumbai’s oxygen levels stabilise, BMC to form teams to monitor supply

As the cityrsquos oxygen supply slowly stabilises civic officials have been busy at coordination efforts to ensure no hospital faces a shortage With smaller private nursing homes and hospitals particularly needing help civic coordinators at every ward are routing oxygen from big hospitals to such needy ones Senior officials on the other hand have assured that the city would get its daily demand of 235 MT liquid oxygen An issue could arise only if there are technical problems on the supply sideHospital staff get oxygen cylinders refilled at a shop in Mahalaxmi PicAshish RajeDuring a review meeting on Monday Municipal Commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal said that the city is in a much better position in terms of oxygen availability Around 300 metric tonnes MT oxygen is expected to arrive from Visakhapatnam Jamnagar and Raigad Experts on the other hand said that the Statersquos response has been delayed and that experts should be allowed to take the lead in the mitigation of COVID19rsquos second waveAfter the BMC shifted around 168 patients from six civic hospitals to Jumbo COVID centres and other oxygenrich hospitals on Friday and Saturday a crisis was averted at least temporarilyThe city receives around 235 MT oxygen daily In the review meeting civic officials met oxygen suppliers and manufacturers Food and Drug Administrationrsquos FDA Mumbai commissioner and other officialsA man refills an oxygen cylinder at a private gas refilling shop in Mahalaxmi on Saturday PicAshish RajeChahal instructed that civic teams will monitor the transportation of oxygen from the production site and its distribution The teams will update the quantity of oxygen received on a shared Google Drive daily for effective monitoring This was agreed upon by the FDA commissioner too who promised to assist the civic bodyIt was also learnt during the meeting that oxygen producers and suppliers are not getting raw material for production Chahal instructed hospitals especially the private ones to use available oxygen properly and sparinglyldquoAbout 300 MT more oxygen is expected from Visakhapatnam Jamnagar and Raigad soon giving relief to everyone Until then however oxygen producers and suppliers along with the administrative machinery should also work on lsquomission modersquo with civic officers appointed to ensure timely supplyrdquo Chahal saidlsquoStatersquos response delayedrsquoThe state requires 1500 MT of oxygen daily Dr Deepak Baid former president of the Association of Medical Consultants Mumbai said the governmentrsquos response to the oxygen shortage was delayed ldquoManufacturing should have been increased or supply should have been diverted to medical oxygen much before this We are losing lives amid the delayrdquo he saidIqbal Singh Chahal civic chiefDr Baid said on Saturday that the BMC has asked private hospitals to register daily before 5 pm the next dayrsquos oxygen requirement ldquoThe local ward officer assistant commissioner is our contact person in case of any troublerdquo he said adding that the approximate inhouse caseload ratio of statemanaged and privatemanaged cases in Mumbai could be 6040 Local poolSome six hospitals COVID nonCOVID in Ghatkopar including Dr Baidrsquos own hospital have formed a group ldquoWe know the situation is beyond the governmentrsquos control We inform each other about supply and consumption If there is shortage we send cylinders to the needy hospital We prevent shifting of patientsrdquo he saidDr Baid added that many hospitals in Mumbai have started buying oxygen concentrators for R45000R50000 per piece ldquoOxygen shortage will lead to shortage of beds because hospitals may hesitate from operating at total bed strength Almost all admitted patients need oxygen Why would they get admitted if they donrsquot need itrdquo he askedldquoThe charges for jumbo and other cylinders have been capped but suppliers are recovering losses by charging more for transport and depositrdquo Dr Baid saidLet experts manage itNational Secretary of the Indian Medical Associationrsquos IMA Hospital Board Dr Mangesh Pate said the COVID19 mitigation should be in the hands of experts not politiciansldquoThey government experts and political leaders say 8085 per cent active cases donrsquot need oxygen but what should we do with the remaining people who are put on oxygen We donrsquot know about the arrival of refillreplacementrdquo he saidAccording to Dr Pate the cost of procurement has increased twothree times and the requirement has increased by 50100 per cent ldquoA patient needs 1525 litres of oxygen per minute sometimes even 30 litres On a ventilator a patient can consume 4590 litres per minuterdquo Dr Pate saidAccording to IMA till Sunday the statersquos mortality rate is 161 per cent which is lower than the world average of 251 per cent but it is more than the Indian average of 121 per centGovt on war footingOn Monday Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar told officials to get as much oxygen from paper factories steel fertiliser and petroleum refinery plants He asked for defunct oxygen plants to be repaired in factories as soon as possibleHealth Minister Rajesh Tope said ldquoThe state is consuming the entire procurement of 1500 MT In a couple of days we will have a supply of 1800 MT daily but it may not suffice if the caseload continues to increaserdquo he saidTransport Minister Anil Parab said his department will create a green corridor to facilitate faster movement of vehicles loaded with cylinders and tankers carrying liquid oxygen by road from other states offloading points and refilling sites within MaharashtraMumbairsquos oxygen supply stable says KakaniAdditional Municipal Commissioner public health Suresh Kakani told midday that the city has nothing to worry about as the required oxygen is stable and a problem can arise only in case of technical issuesSuresh Kakani additional municipal commissionerAmid the pandemic the state regulates the oxygen quota Kakani said Mumbai has been allotted a supply of 235 MT daily Onethird of the cityrsquos requirement is of private hospitalsldquoThe oxygen demand isnrsquot much higher than last yearrsquos spike Itrsquos 1020 per cent more and can be managed unless there is a technical problem in production or last point deliveryrdquo he said adding that the civic body has its dedicated suppliersWhen the civic body shifted patients from a peripheral hospital to some others it was due to a shortage created by a technical problem on the supply sideKakani said the decision was taken after it was learnt that the manufacturing facility wouldnrsquot operate for at least 12 hours because of a technical snag ldquoIn that case hospitals where refills are required would have faced hard times to manage patients So we analysed requirements for the next 12 hours depending on the stock available in that particular hospitalrdquo Kakani said4590LOxygen required per minute by a patient on a ventilator1525LOxygen required per minute by a patient