Oxygen storage capacity in Pune now up to 460MT

PUNE: In a major boost, around 20 government-run hospitals now have 464 metric tonnes of functional liquid oxygen storage capacity, according to the Pune district health office’s report. It stated that in 20 private hospitals, the capacity is around 256 metric tonnes. The increased storage capacity will be useful in averting an oxygen crisis.

Sanjay Patil, chairman, Indian Medical Association’s hospital board of India, told TOI, “It is quite heartening to see that we have created better storage facilities for the liquid oxygen, but we also have to give importance to generation. The administration must make an assessment of how much oxygen generation capacity we have augmented in the government as well as the private sector. They should assess data from the distributors, which will help us in the event of any future unfortunate incidents.”

According to Patil, the purity of the oxygen also remains an issue, which needs to be looked into. An official from the district health office said general guidelines from the state government were to have thrice the storage capacity of the liquid medical oxygen than what was the peak requirement during the second wave earlier this year.

Oxygen consumption has gone down drastically in the district at present with the demand falling to around 120-125 metric tonnes per day, from 363 a day in April. Apart from the storage capacity, around 35 government-run hospitals in the district have also installed their own oxygen plants, that can produce 38,206 litres per minute (LPM) of oxygen.