On April 17, Waghbil resident Rajesh Shetty, 41, received a call from the private hospital where his uncle had been admitted. The hospital staff asked Shetty to either shift his uncle to another hospital or make provision for an oxygen cylinder, as the facility’s oxygen supply was depleting. With scarcity of beds in top hospitals and no information on oxygen providers, Shetty and his family had to run from pillar to post due to the situation.
“We got a call in the afternoon that the present supply will last merely for two hours and we will either have to shift the patient to a different hospital or arrange for an oxygen cylinder. We did not know where to shift him on a Saturday evening as there is already shortage of beds. We had to call up many people to find a cylinder. By evening, we managed to find one, and the hospital had also found a cylinder. However, it’s a nightmare for common people to look for oxygen cylinder or shift their loved ones,” Shetty said.
Most patients who need oxygen at various hospitals in the city are facing similar situation. On April 10, the Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) had to shift around 30 patients from its parking plaza Covid-19 hospital to Global Hospital due to lack of oxygen supply in the parking facility. Though TMC claimed the problem would sustain only for one night, the parking facility continues to be devoid of oxygen supply.
Another resident, Shyam Pillai, 38, was in a similar situation as Shetty on Sunday.
{{/usCountry}}Another resident, Shyam Pillai, 38, was in a similar situation as Shetty on Sunday.
{{/usCountry}}“My friend’s mother was admitted to a hospital and needed oxygen. I had few numbers through different WhatsApp groups but when I tried contacting them, they quoted prices as high as Rs20,000 or Rs10,000 for one cylinder which is not priced beyond Rs1500. There seems to be a complete black marketing of oxygen cylinders. Finally an NGO arranged for a cylinder at the actual cost,” said Pillai.
In Thane, of the 4,666 beds available within the city, 2,671 are oxygen beds. Of these, the 1,500 oxygen beds at the parking plaza and Voltas Company Covid-19 facility are lying vacant, as there is no oxygen supply.
“We merely are getting 23 tonnes of oxygen at present while the requirement is 46 tonnes. At present, we have oxygen beds only at Thane Global Hospital where the 23 tonnes are supplied on a daily basis. We are unable to use the oxygen beds at parking plaza and Voltas facilities,” a senior TMC official said.
The corporation has also planned to set up three oxygen plants in the city, two of which will be operational by April 30.
“Thane Global Hospital and parking plaza facility will each get 20- tonne plants, which will supply oxygen to 175 cylinders in 24 hours. Apart from this, two oxygen tanks of 12 kilolitres, one each at an open place near Kharegaon in Kalwa and the other at Kausa in Mumbra are in pipeline. This will be liquid oxygen and permission needs to be taken from the Petroleum and Explosive Safety Organisation (PESO) to install them.”
Thane guardian minister Eknath Shinde on Monday informed that with the three oxygen generator plants, Thane will be self-sufficient in its oxygen needs.
“I had a meeting with deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar, where we have suggested that other districts should also plan for its own plants to deal with the oxygen shortage,” Shinde said.
Meanwhile, private hospitals have approached the collector to help them with the oxygen shortage.
Dr Santosh Kadam, president of Indian Medical Association, Thane chapter, said, “Private hospitals are reeling under shortage of oxygen. Last week, there were instances when due to lack of supply some patients were shifted to other hospitals on an emergency basis. It becomes difficult to coordinate and manage the oxygen supply at such times. We have requested the collector to keep emergency oxygen supply handy for such situations. This will ensure patients health remains priority.”
(Inputs by Ankita Menon)