Centre asks states to use medical oxygen rationally, ensure no wastage

The Centre on Thursday asked states to make rational use of medical oxygen and ensure there is no wastage while stressing that there is sufficient stock of oxygen in the countryMedical oxygen is a critical component in the treatment of COVID19 affected patients An interministerial Empowered Group EG2 of officers was constituted during the COVID pandemic in March 2020 to ensure the availability of essential medical equipment including medical oxygen to the affected states the Union health ministry saidldquoAlong with the ramped up production of the oxygen manufacturing units and the surplus stocks available the present availability of oxygen is sufficientrdquo the ministry said adding that the country is producing oxygen at its full capacity everyday for the last two daysBesides states have been asked to set up control rooms to ensure smooth supply of oxygen to the districts according to need review requirement of cylinders tankers etc the ministry said in a statementA detailed daily mapping of sources for supply of medical oxygen to the affected states is under preparation to ensure uninterrupted oxygen supply it saidThe exercise will be carried out on the basis of detailed daily deliberations between officers of the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade health ministry steel ministry various critically affected states Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation along with key stakeholders including representatives from oxygen manufacturers All India Industrial Gas Manufacturers Association according to the directions of the interministerial Empowered Group EG2 it addedIt is pertinent to note that there is sufficient production capacity of around 7127 MTs for oxygen in the country and as per need the surplus oxygen available with the steel plants is also being utilisedrdquo the ministry saidThe country has a daily production capacity of 7127 MT of oxygen per day Against this the total production has been 100 per cent since past two days as directed by the EG2 since supply to medical oxygen has gone up rapidly the ministry addedOn April 12 the medical oxygen consumption in the country was 3842 MTs that is 54 per cent of the daily production capacityThe maximum consumption of medical oxygen is by Maharashtra Gujarat Madhya Pradesh Uttar Pradesh Karnataka Tamil Nadu Delhi followed by Chhattisgarh Punjab Rajasthan the ministry statedWith increasing cases the medical oxygen consumption will need to keep pace with the requirements of the states For this the current oxygen stocks of the country including the industrial oxygen stocks with the manufacturing plants is more than 50000 MTs the ministry saidThe EG2 has initiated several measures to ensure supply of medical oxygen to various affected states it saidSome of the key measures include increasing oxygen production according to production capacity of each oxygen manufacturing plant which has resulted in 100 per cent production in the oxygen manufacturing units ramping up availability of oxygen in the country it saidThe measures also include utilising surplus stocks available with steel plants and mapping requirements of top states with oxygen sources including with sources across the state borders and those available at steel plants for greater clarity and assurance for the states on the oxygen sourcing the ministry saidThus Maharashtra has been able to utilise surplus medical oxygen on daily basis from steel plants like JSW in Dolvi Maharashtra SAIL in Bhilai Chhattisgarh and from JSW in Bellary Karnataka Similarly Madhya Pradesh is able to supplement its oxygen supply from the Steel plant in Bhilai Chhattisgarh the ministry saidAccording to the ministry the challenge at present is to move oxygen from states with less necessity to those with increased necessityMapping of surplus sources with states that have greater need for oxygen is being finalised in consultation with the manufacturers states and other stakeholders it saidThis has been undertaken through coordinated planning between the Union and state governments to map their requirements up to April 30 with the available sources and stocks of oxygen in the country the ministry saidA subgroup has been formed under the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways with Ministry of Railways and transport departments of states to facilitate the movement of tankers for Liquid Medical Oxygen LMO Moving of oxygen tankers by rail is also being actively worked out it saidSome of the key decisions taken in the context of seamless movement of oxygen tankers include orders given by PESO Petroleum and Safety Organisation for conversion of argon and nitrogen tankers for use as oxygen tankers thereby the fleet available for transportation of tankers has been enhanced and free movement of oxygen tankers interstate has been facilitated through MoRTH without registration in the other states it saidFurther industrial cylinders have been permitted to be used for transporting medical oxygen after due purging and placing of orders for the purchase of another one lakh oxygen cylinders by the health ministry is also being undertaken it saidThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever