Subasish Guha Roy’s phone does not stop ringing these days. Every day he fields desperate calls from hospitals, government institutions, and family members of COVID-19 patients. As managing director of Universal Air Products, he has what everyone wants: oxygen.
For the most part, Mr. Roy is unable to meet the demand of the people pleading with him for oxygen as it outstrips supply. But he attends every call and tries to direct families to other resources. “It’s an emergency and people are stressed,” says Mr. Roy, who as MD of one of the leading producers of medical oxygen in the State, is one of the more sought-after people. “The allotment of oxygen to the State has to be increased. That is the only way out of this crisis,” he said.
The Union Government’s decision to increase daily oxygen allocation from the existing 300 to 800 tonnes is expected to provide some relief. This comes a day after Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday to increase Karnataka’s oxygen quota to 1,471 tonnes per day (TPD) based on the projected daily cases by May 1.
Given the oxygen requirement across India, the Union government has centralised the oxygen supply grid. The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade allots States a quota almost every day based on their oxygen need. Karnataka has an installed capacity of 812 TPD of medical oxygen, but until Saturday had been allotted a quota of 300 TPD by the Centre.
Crisis in KK districts
The hope is that the increase in supply will ease the crisis faced in several districts in Kalyana Karnataka. Oxygen ran out at Bidar Institute of Medical Sciences on Thursday and after an SOS call an oxygen tanker was rushed from Kalaburagi, a district also reeling under severe shortage. “The price of oxygen cylinders has shot up several times, but even at these exorbitant costs we are scrambling for supply,” said a senior doctor running a hospital in Kalaburagi.
Several private hospitals are shifting patients who need oxygen to government hospitals, a trend observed in many districts like Kalaburagi and Mandya, facing an oxygen crunch. “The district hospitals presently have better supply of oxygen, but the beds are running out and their oxygen supply is not unlimited either,” said Rajendra Prasad, an oxygen supplier in Mandya, who had been running from pillar to post in four districts for the last three days trying to get oxygen cylinders refilled.
Mr. Roy advocated “reasoned use” of medical oxygen, as was also suggested by Mr. Modi at the conference of Chief Ministers on Friday. “Doctors need to desist from administering medical liquid oxygen for even borderline cases. We must start using oxygen concentrators that are available even on e-commerce platforms,” he said.
(With inputs from Kumar Buradikatti in Kalaburagi)
