BENGALURU: Repair and maintenance works after technical snags hit two oxygen producing plants in Ballari led to Karnataka’s nodal officer for oxygen Munish Moudgil sounding an alert that supplies would be hit by 20 per cent over the next two days. It set off alarm bells on the shortage affecting the lives of Covid patients depending on oxygen. Moudgil announced, “There is a crisis, as 220 metric tonnes (MT) of oxygen supply from Ballari has been reduced due to production problems and would be stabilised by Wednesday morning. So for the next two days, there will be a 20 per cent reduction in supply to all districts.”
Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) Chief Commissioner Gaurav Gupta said hospitals have been told to make necessary arrangements. The oxygen supply, however, will not be stopped completely, Moudgil added. Another senior BBMP official said hospitals have also been told to take in lesser numbers of critical patients and to keep sufficient buffer stocks of oxygen.
The state gets 1,000 MT of oxygen daily, of which around 810 MT is locally manufactured and supplied. Of this 810 MT, around 340 MT is supplied to Bengaluru. The two units of Praxiar and Air Waters generate 260MT.
‘Source oxygen from other states, countries’
But because of the snag, only 65MT of oxygen is being generated at one Praxair plant in Koppal, and one Air Water plant and the second Praxair plant in Ballari. This reduction is critical, as the State Government has been maintaining that it needs 1,700 MT. Experts and officials working with the government and manufacturing plants said all units were working at full capacity for the last six weeks and proper maintenance work could not be done, leading to the present technical snag. “It is time for the State Government to source oxygen from other states and countries. It is ideal to divide production and procurement,” said an official.
10TH OXYGEN EXPRESS REACHES KARNATAKA
Bengaluru: With the 10th Oxygen Express bringing in 120 tonnes of Liquid Medical Oxygen to the State on Monday, the State now has a total of 1182.14 tonnes supplied by rail from across the country. The train from Jharkhand entered Inland Container Depot at Whitefield at 3.05 pm with 6 cryogenic containers.