Maharashtra: Why Raigad never faced oxygen shortage

Raigad Collector Nidhi Choudhari (also right) at one of the civil hospitals in Raigad on Monday

The tragic tale of people dying due to shortage of oxygen has a refreshing twist. Raigad district in Maharashtra hasn't yet seen a single death due to a lack of the life-saving element. Officials said the presence of many oxygen plants in the area and proactive action by the district administration have put Raigad in an enviable position. Before Covid-19, Raigad produced 410 tonnes of oxygen a day which has now been raised to 643 tonnes.

Raigad Collector Nidhi Choudhari

Officials said they are using about 30 tonnes and releasing the rest for other areas, including the Mumbai Metropolitan Region. On their advanced planning, Raigad Collector Nidhi Choudhari said, "All permissions were granted after due diligence to add this facility last year which turned out to be a great support in this current crisis. Not a single death has been reported due to the unavailability of oxygen."

She said steel maker JSW ramped up oxygen production during the first wave and added 80 tonnes a day to its capacity. It had also given about 800 tonnes from its reserve stock of oxygen to districts in distress like Nashik, Jalgaon, Jalna, Beed, Aurangabad apart from MMR and Pune.

Using their past experience, Chaoudhari said, they sought clearance from the environment ministry to raise the collective daily production of O2 plants in the district to 643 tonnes.

"During the first wave, Raigad district required a maximum of 20 tonnes a day. In the second wave, it touched around 40 tonnes a day during the peak and now it has come down to 30 tonnes. The rest of the O2 is supplied to districts that are in need," said Choudhari.

Raigad district now has 2,489 oxygen-supported beds of which 1,351 are being used by patients. It has reported 2,533 deaths so far and has 12,620 active cases with a doubling rate of 45 days.

The Raigad collector during one of her visits to a government hospital

"Now that cases have started dropping in Raigad district, we have begun working to increase the oxygen efficiency. One oxygen PSA plant has also been commissioned at Alibag Civil Hospital where some additional work is being done. Oxygen nurses have been deployed to ensure that oxygen efficiency is maintained," she said. Four more PSA plants will be coming up in the next few days at other civil hospitals, including Panvel, Pen and Mandgaon, she said. "This will help in tackling the third wave as it's being predicted by experts."

The IAS officer said they won't drop their guard despite being in a comfortable position. "We are setting up PSA plants and sending our tankers to get more oxygen from the Reliance Jamnagar plant which is being given to us free. When you have 643 tonnes a day, you may become complacent, but we don't want to. We are working with the intention that whatever capacity we are creating can be put to use and be given to someone else."

2,489
No. of oxygen-supported beds in Raigad district