Amid Huge Shortage, Maharashtra Clears Path For Vehicles Carrying Oxygen

Vehicles carrying oxygen for Covid patients will be treated on par with the ambulance service for the next one year, the Maharashtra government said today amid a severe oxygen crisis reported from several states. Maharashtra is one of the states where the crisis is looming. Doctors said they are getting only 60 per cent of the oxygen needed, leading to more deaths in rural areas.

"The Government of Maharashtra hereby declares that the vehicles permitted for carrying oxygen for medical purposes shall be treated on par with ambulance for a period of one year during such disaster and thereby treating such vehicles as the vehicle on emergency and disaster management duties," an order from the Maharashtra government read this evening.

States like Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Telangana -- hit the hardest by the pandemic -- and also Gujarat, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, have been asked by the Centre to ensure the availability of enough oxygen in healthcare facilities.  

Earlier today, in a statement in parliament, Union health minister Dr Harsh Vardhan said the country is "self-sufficient" in oxygen and oxygen cylinders. "The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has procured and supplied 1,02,400 oxygen cylinders to various states and Union Territories so far," the minister said.

He, however, added that oxygen therapy is required in "only about 5.8  per cent cases" and the disease may be severe enough to require intensive care in only 1.7 per cent cases.

NDTV found that many hospitals in Maharashtra, Karnataka and Rajasthan have been struggling to meet the demands for oxygen.  

"Only 60 per cent of what is needed is being supplied," Dr. Avinash Bhondwe of the Maharashtra unit of the Indian Medical Association told NDTV.  

Calling it a huge failure of the administration, he said, "Oxygen is not being supplied at all in many districts like Pune, Solapur, Satara, Osmanabad, Thane, Kolhapur in Maharashtra".  

Black marketing, he said, has increased. "Today, a cylinder of oxygen is available to the hospital between Rs 500 and 1500", which is many times more than the actual price, he said.

The Food and Drug Foundation has written to stop the black marketing of oxygen from Maharashtra and the state government has asked for a committee to be in touch with the oxygen suppliers.

In Karnataka, many smaller hospitals and nursing homes have been struggling to meet the demands for oxygen.

 "There is an acute shortage (of oxygen) in 13 to 14 districts right now. And even in Bangalore, the smaller and mid-level hospitals are facing an oxygen crisis," said Dr H M Prasanna, President of Private Hospitals and Nursing Homes Association of Karnataka.

Rajasthan too, is facing an oxygen shortfall. To ease the situation, the government said it is organising piped oxygen in district hospitals and giving the go ahead for more plants for more supply.

Yesterday, amid a surge in Covid cases and the fatality rate in Punjab, the Amarinder Singh government sought assistance from neighbouring states and local manufacturers for supply of liquid oxygen. The government has written to Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand.

At a meeting today with 29 states, the Centre also said there should be no restriction on inter-state movement of oxygen cylinders and tankers carrying oxygen should be provided with a "Green Corridor" following a disagreement on the matter between Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh.