DNA Exclusive: No shortage of oxygen in country, why are then patients gasping for air?

New Delhi: Hospitals around the country have reported shortage of oxygen used in the treatment of COVID-19 patients as the number of new infections continues to grow at an alarming rate.

The oxygen crisis has led to the death of many patients. The crematoriums are running out of capacity. The top courts of the country had to step in to take stock of the worrying situation prevailing in the country.

Strange as it may sound, there is no shortage of oxygen production in the country.

Zee News Editor-in-Chief Sudhir Chaudhary on Thursday (April 22) discussed how the oxygen crisis has affected the COVID patients around the country and how despite having sufficient oxygen stock, the hospitals are running short of supply.

India reported 315,802 fresh coronavirus infections on Thursday, creating a world record for the highest single-day spike in cases. With the increase in the number of patients, the scarcity of oxygen has also deepened.

Several hospitals in the city approached the Delhi High Court complaining that they have very little oxygen left which would last only a few hours and consequently many patients could die.

The High Court declared that if people died due to lack of oxygen, it would be considered a crime. The court added that the central government will have to meet the demand for oxygen and the state governments will have to take action against the hoarders.

The coronavirus pandemic has exposed the shortcomings of the entire system. Last year there were limited labs, PPE kits, medicines, and testing kits. This year we are suffering from scarcity of oxygen.

Despite sufficient production, why is there an oxygen crisis?

In view of its increasing demand, the central government has increased the oxygen quota of eight states including Delhi, Haryana, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand and Andhra Pradesh.

The thing to understand here is that there is no shortage of oxygen in the country. Oxygen is being produced more than consumption. It means that the trouble is with the supply of oxygen. Why then there is a crisis of oxygen in the country at all?

Oxygen is not used only to save the lives of patients in hospitals. It is also used in various industrial sectors such as iron, steel and petroleum.

According to a 2020 report, Maharashtra ranks first among the top five states in terms of production capacity of oxygen. It produces 991 metric tons of oxygen per day. Then comes Gujarat and after that states like Jharkhand, Odisha and Kerala.

There are a total of 17 large plants of oxygen in these five states alone. Whereas in the rest of the states and union territories, there are only 20 plants in total. There is not even a single oxygen plant in Delhi, the capital of the country. This helps explain the crisis.

Most states depend on these top five states for oxygen. But the problem is that demand for oxygen has increased in these oxygen-producing states too. And this has disrupted the whole supply chain of oxygen. In simple words, there is oxygen in India, but its supply is very difficult.

The question now arises why is the government not expanding the existing plants and why are new plants not being installed.

The answer is that it is not possible to do so at once. New oxygen manufacturing plants cannot be installed overnight. It is a time taking process.

Thus, the only way out of the current crisis is by making the existing supply chain more efficient so that the oxygen could reach every single patient in the country who needs it.