With third wave on mind, BMC continues work on its oxygen plants

An ambulance transfers Covid patients out of Bhagwati hospital at Borivli on April 16 over shortage of oxygen. File pic

Shortly after it was forced to shift 168 Covid-19 patients to other facilities for lack of oxygen on the night of April 17, the corporation stepped on the gas to set up oxygen plants in the city. So far, the BMC has spent Rs 360 crore on oxygen plants to cut its reliance on outsiders for the life-saving gas. The plants can last between 15 and 30 years. As cases come down in Mumbai and the likelihood of a third wave appears to be fading, for now, the BMC is saving money on oxygen cylinders that it was earlier getting through private vendors.

Officials said the corporation has already set up nine pressure swing adsorption (PSA) oxygen plants at civic-run hospitals with a combined capacity of 42 metric tonnes per day. It has spent Rs 90 crore on these PSA plants, which separate oxygen from atmospheric air. A refilling plant for Dura oxygen cylinders, which stock liquid oxygen, is also operational at Mahalaxmi.

BMC officials said bigger plants with a capacity of 119.2 MT will be set up at the jumbo centres as each of these facilities has 1,500-2,000 beds. These plants are expected to be ready by November-end. BMC officials said even though the jumbo centres are not in use at the moment, the plants are coming up as part of their preparedness for the third wave and future use.

Now, almost all the civic-run hospitals are taking their refill of Dura cylinders for their ICU beds from the Mahalaxmi refilling centre. Earlier, the BMC used to pay Rs 7,000 per Dura cylinder, said sources. The nine PSA plants at civic hospitals are currently being run for 2-3 hours a day as BMC wants to save on their maintenance.

"These plants will produce oxygen from the atmosphere. The rate of oxygen produced from this plant per cubic metre is equal to the rate of liquid oxygen. These projects can be operated for a minimum of 15 years and a maximum of 30 years and in future, we can either transfer these to our other hospitals or shift them to smaller rural districts that need the source but cannot afford it. But it will be a decision of the authorities as these too will form a part of the materials that are currently used for setting up of jumbo centres," said a senior civic official.