Snags in oxygen plants in Ballari hit supply; Bengaluru Urban to face the brunt

Technical problems at two oxygen manufacturing plants in Ballari have disrupted oxygen supplies in the state, with production dropping by 220 tonnes a day.

In a message to all deputy commissioners and the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), Chief Secretary P Ravi Kumar said they must “expect and prepare for a 20% reduction in supplies to all refillers on Monday and Tuesday”, and that districts must “plan [their] oxygen stocks and buffer stock use now and use buffer stock if the situation requires”.

The situation had arisen at plants run independently by Air Water India and Praxair India, and is set to disrupt liquid oxygen supplies until Wednesday. Together, both firms supply about 430 tonnes of oxygen to the state every day.

According to data from the government, the state consumed an average of 837.9 tonnes of oxygen a day over a six-day period from May 17 to 22.

Read | Oxygen buffer stocks in 12 Karnataka districts zero

Munish Moudgil, IAS, who is in charge of oxygen management, clarified that all oxygen that is produced or supplied is generally consumed.

Between 800 and 1,000 tonnes of oxygen is normally supplied per day to the state.

Kaushik Mukhopadhyay, executive director, Air Water India, said the issue was a result of the heavy use of cryogenic machinery. “Because of the current situation, we are operating round the clock and there has been limited opportunity to carry out maintenance,” he said, adding that he expected the plant to become operational on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Praxair India also reported a technical issue at a plant manufacturing 250 tonnes of liquid oxygen. The problem occurred on May 22 but the plant resumed operations at 2 am on May 23, the company said.

Bengaluru to be hit

The hardest hit will be Bengaluru Urban, where consumption has been steadily increasing despite dwindling Covid-19 numbers. On May 5, the city consumed 260 tonnes of oxygen, at a time when the city’s active caseload was headed towards the peak. On May 22, despite active case numbers declining by 9.6% over just a 24-hour period, the city consumed 340.20 tonnes.

D Randeep, Special Commissioner, BBMP, said that the per capita use of oxygen is high in Bengaluru. “One reason is longer hospitalisation times in the city. The problem of oxygen overuse is acute in some zones, but in others, it has been fixed,” he said.

According to BBMP data, some 18% of hospitalised cases spend 11-20 days in the hospital. About 6.8% spend over 21 days.

Moudgil added that ICU and ICU-ventilator use has not fallen in Bengaluru. On top of this, oxygen concentrators have not relieved the pressure on oxygen supplies, Randeep added. “Concentrators are only useful if a person’s saturation level is not below 80,” he said.