Hospitals fall short of oxygen, supply from Bhiwadi resumes

Hospitals in the city reported a shortage of oxygen on Thursday and sought help from the state, due to an increase in consumption owing to the sharp spike in serious Covid-19 cases over the last two weeks and the supplier in Bhiwadi of Rajasthan halting shipments due to a ban by the state government

Hospitals in the city reported a shortage of oxygen on Thursday and sought help from the state, due to an increase in consumption owing to the sharp spike in serious Covid-19 cases over the last two weeks and the supplier in Bhiwadi of Rajasthan halting shipments due to a ban by the state government.

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“1 hour oxygen left in Fortis Gurugram. Tanker from Bhiwadi not allowed to come to Haryana. We cater to Pt from all India they cannot pay price for a political war,” Dr Rahul Bhargava, director, bone marrow transplant programme, Fortis Memorial Research Institute, Gurugram, tweeted at 4.11pm on Thursday.

Officials of the administration said that the supplier in Bhiwadi resumed operations on Thursday after discussions with the Rajasthan government. “There was a delay on the part of the hospital to inform us about the situation. The hospital had a tie-up with the Bhiwadi plant. To tackle the situation, the deputy commissioner coordinated with the supplier and arranged the oxygen required by the hospital,” said Rajeev Arora, additional chief secretary, health department.

The management of the Fortis Memorial Research Institute later confirmed that they received the supply. “Tanker from Bhiwadi has reached averting a serious crisis,” a statement from the hospital read.

However, other hospitals in the city said that a crisis is looming.

An official from Artemis Hospitals said, “Yes, there is an acute shortage. We are living one day at a time with 24-hour oxygen (supply) at any given time. Refilling with liquid oxygen is a challenge for continuous supply; even oxygen cylinders are not available. It is leading to huge stress on the medical staff. They are getting demoralised as patient care is adversely affected.”

Anil khatana, head of operations, W Pratiksha Hospital in Sector 56, said that the administration has asked them to increase the number of beds, but they are unable to fulfil the demand of patients already undergoing treatment. “There has been increase in the demand and if we add more beds, we will not be able to meet fill the requirement. Upgrading infrastructure with the current situation is not possible. We used to get 90 cylinders refilled twice a week but now, we need the same twice a day due to the number of patients,” he said.

Dr Vikram Singh, director of Aarvy hospital in Civil Lines and Sector 90, said that they are reeling under an acute shortage of oxygen cylinders. “We need at least 90 oxygen cylinders for our Covid-19 patients but are getting a supply of hardly 10 a day. Two suppliers have stopped supply due to the increased demand. If the situation remains the same for the next few days, the number of causalities will increase. We are somehow making do at present, as we have an oxygen generation plant,” he said.

The short supply comes at a time when neighbouring Delhi is dealing with an unprecedented crisis, with hospitals approaching courts and pleading for replenishment of their oxygen stocks. A few Delhi hospitals on Thursday had to discharge their patients, as their oxygen stock ran out.

At present, the district has 18,120 active cases of Covid-19, of whom 1,055 are currently hospitalised.

Arora said that currently, the oxygen demand of Gurugram is almost 28-30 metric tonnes a day, which the state is trying to fulfil from oxygen plants in Panipat, Bhiwadi and Himachal Pradesh.

“Panipat-based plant has a capacity to produce 240MT oxygen. As discussed in a meeting with the Central government on Thursday, over 140 MT has been allocated to Delhi, 80 MT to Haryana and 20MT to Punjab to ensure there is an uninterrupted supply of oxygen to hospitals. Haryana has also been getting 20MT of oxygen from Bhiwadi, Rajasthan and 20 MT from Himachal Pradesh. Overall, the Central government has allocated over 162 MT oxygen supply for Haryana,” he said.

The oxygen plant in Bhiwadi was the main source of medical oxygen for Gurugram hospitals, as over 20 metric tonnes were supplied every day. The supply resumed on Thursday after the state government and district administration spoke with the Rajasthan government, said officials.

Deputy commissioner Yash Garg said that the situation improved on Thursday as supply has been resumed from Bhiwadi and the situation should normalise by Thursday night. “If we get regular supply from Panipat and Bhiwadi, we will have enough for all of our hospitals,” he said.

“We sent Fortis an oxygen tanker and 100 oxygen cylinders to ensure there is enough supply for the patients,” he added.

Meanwhile, staff of smaller hospitals in the district are dependent on oxygen cylinders from a Manesar facility and said they have to queue up for hours to get their quota.