Oxygen availability in Faridabad up by 80%

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Faridabad, January 30

As part of the preparedness to tackle Covid, the Health Department here has announced the availability of as many as 92.4 metric tonnes of oxygen for patients. It is almost 80 per cent higher than the capacity available last year. The oxygen generation capacity has been raised by 371.5 per cent, it has been reported.

Four plants built

Oxygen production capacity has increased highest at Chhainsa village in F’bad district where 4 plants have been built. —Health Dept official

Claiming that the availability of oxygen is no longer an issue of concern, a senior official of the Health Department said the availability, which was just 51.4 tonnes last year, had been increased to 92.4 tonnes. Revealing that several oxygen plants had been set up in the past seven months, he said the largest of the oxygen production capacity has come up at the Shri Atal Behari Vajpayee Government Medical College and Hospital at Chhainsa village in the district, where four plants of the capacity of 2,250 LPM (litre per minute) have been built. While one of the plants is able to produce 1000 litres of oxygen per minute, the capacity of other three is between 500 and 250 LPM. Another 1,000 litre capacity plant has been set up on the premises of the Civil Hospital here. It has been installed by the NHPC at a cost of Rs 1.63 crore, according to officials concerned.

The civil hospital is having a plant of 200 LPM already. Besides these, new plants have come up at various spots, including ESIC Medical college, 440 PM, CHC (Community Health Centre) Kheri Kaan village – 200 LPM, CHC Pali village- 200 LPM and government hospital at Ballabgarh- 200 LPM.

The shortage of oxygen has been seen as a prime factor behind several fatalities and the inconvenience faced by the patients and their kin during the second wave witnessed last year.

“Though the number of hospitalised patients is around 2 per cent of the total active cases, the department is prepared to tackle any situation as there is ample oxygen and no shortage of, ICU beds, oxygen support beds, ventilators, cylinders and concentrators,” said Dr Vinay Gupta, Civil Surgeon.