BHUBANESWAR: Odisha is supplying oxygen to other states but patients in home isolation here have to pay through their nose for the O2. For, oxygen is available but cylinders are not.
The State government asserts that oxygen stock is stable but black marketing of medical oxygen continues as some traders leave no stone unturned to mint money amid the crisis simply because there are not enough cylinders in the retail system.
An investigation revealed that cost of 10.2 litre cylinder has gone up to Rs 15,000 from around Rs 5,000. For a 13.5 litre cylinder, the price is something between Rs 25,000 and Rs 40,000.
“People are ready to pay even Rs 40,000, but we are unable to supply due to shortage of cylinders in the market. Due to scarcity, we decided sell only oxygen not the whole cylinder. But people, who took it once, would not return. From 27 cylinders a month back, we now have only 10. We are getting more than 100 calls a day,” said a city-based trader.
Even volunteers supplying oxygen to the needy feel the pinch as traders demand two to three times the actual price citing the non-availability of adequate number of portable or jumbo cylinders.
Sources said, the State has around 27,000 cylinders, including 18,000 B-type and 9,000 D-type, all in government control now.
Earlier, the cylinders were routed through the license holding dealers and retailers. Now, there is no data on how many is in circulation as growing demand has led to hoarding and profiteering.
While major private hospitals in Bhubaneswar have oxygen tanks and get their supply through tankers, government hospitals, including the medical colleges, are fully dependent on the supply through cylinders.
With active cases gone past 80,000, more than twice the number during last year’s peak, the number of patients getting treatment in home isolation has increased manifold.
Unlike the first wave, more Covid patients have been suffering from breathlessness, leading to a greater need for oxygen this time.
Traders allege that the government has taken complete control over oxygen cylinders leaving little scope for the commodity to be available in retail market.
Oxygen is available but where are the cylinders?
“The government allowed people for treatment at home and hence, there should be provision for oxygen to be procured from the market. What will a patient do when his/her oxygen level falls? People are ready to pay, but we are unable to supply,” they said, Additional Chief Secretary of Health PK Mohapatra, however, said there is no scarcity of oxygen in the State as the requirement is only about 45 metric tonne.
“We have already issued purchase orders for 18,000 cylinders of both B and D-type and sought 10,000 jumbo oxygen cylinders and 20,000 B-type cylinders besides five cryogenic oxygen tanks of 10,000 litre each and 30,000 flowmeter from the Centre,” he added.
Not just cylinders, price of oxygen concentrators and flowmeters has also surged. A concentrator, which was available for Rs 35,000 a month back, now costs one lakh.
The price of flowmeter has increased from Rs 750 to Rs 4500. The daily production of oxygen now stands at around 500 metric tonne, including 375 tonne of liquid medical oxygen (LMO).