42 MT output per day, HP to supply oxygen to Delhi

Subhash Rajta

Tribune News Service

Shimla, April 26

Himachal will supply oxygen to Delhi following a request from Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. In a letter to Kejriwal, Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur has said that Himachal is concerned about the situation in the national capital and will be more than happy to extend all possible help to the Delhi Government.

Dr Jitender Chauhan, state nodal officer for oxygen, says that the state is “very comfortable” with oxygen supplies and has a plenty of it to spare. “The state can easily offer some supply to Delhi. We are comfortable with oxygen supplies at present and don’t see any problem in near future as well,” he adds.

“At the moment, our per day production is 42 metric tonnes while our consumption is merely around 7 metric tonnes. So, you can have an idea how much surplus oxygen we have,” he says. There are oxygen producing facilities in Baddi, Mandi, Una and Paonta Sahib, he adds.

According to him, the consumption of oxygen in the Covid care facilities at Shimla, Tanda and Mandi is around 2 MT per day. “At other facilities in the state, the oxygen consumption is very little,” he says.

Chauhan sounded confident about the availability of supply in future, too. “Even if there’s a significant surge in Covid cases next month or later, we are estimating a requirement of about 22 MT per day. Even in that scenario, we are quite comfortable,” he adds.

“Of around 1,400 plus oxygen and ICU beds that we have at present, the occupancy rate is a tad over 50 per cent. So, even if all these beds are occupied and more of them are laid, we will be able to manage it with around 22 MT oxygen consumption per day,” he says.