Oxygen Supply Paradigm During Pandemic While Delhi Is Gasping for Breath

New Delhi, 25^th April, 2021

• COVID19 Pandemic has highlighted the necessity of Oxygen in treating patients of Virus infection. The Virus sits in the lung and paralyses its function of contraction and expansion, thus resulting in low supply of Oxygen to the blood. Supply of concentrated Oxygen helps during shortness of breath. The best example of how a patient feels was given by a short video clip shared by the Hon’ble MLA Sh. Saurabh Bharadwaj over WhatsApp from his hospital bed “I am feeling breathless like when someone is drowning in water and gasping for breath, this hospital has limited supply of Oxygen left”. With sudden spurt in Patients, the need for Oxygen has risen beyond planning figures. Delhi is most seriously affected by the Oxygen supply shortage, as it is not an Industrial State and depends on others in the country.
• Fact Check
  • There is not much difference between Industrial use Oxygen and Medical use Oxygen. Only that the Industrial use Oxygen is purer with  99.5% and for Medical use 95+/- 3% accepted.
  • There is no shortage in production of Oxygen in India. Only 1% of the total production is used for medical purposes. Consider during COVID19 Pandemic the demand rises by 5-10%, still there shall be no shortage because of production capacity.
• So why are hospitals suffering a shortage?
  • The problem is in Logistics, Planning and Foresight by the Government of impending surge in Pandemic. Failure of the Health Ministry.
  • The Oxygen producing plants are concentrated in certain geographic areas like East, some in West and Karnataka. Thus transporting to Delhi over Rail or Road takes time. The Oxygen tanker has to go back to refill. This turnaround time is 7 to 10 days. There is a limit to the number of tankers a plant can have, they are expensive.
  • Pressure Swing Adsorption (PSA) Oxygen Generation plants that were promised for Delhi are still on paper. These plants are much smaller than the industrial scale plants that hospitals in Delhi and several other cities are mostly dependent upon, only AIIMS has one. The Central Government through its Ministry of Health allocated funds for these plants across India. Eight were to be installed in Delhi. The Ministry of Health asked for Land for them (Although Land is with DDA which is under the Lieutenant Governor (LG) or Central Government), for which the Delhi Government indicated spaces within eight hospitals. The Delhi MLA and AAP spokesperson Raghav Chadha says that the contractor engaged by the Ministry of Health GoI has broken the contract and funds allocated are lost.
  • Delhi Disaster Management Authority(DDMA) was constituted in 2008 under the Chairpersonship of Hon’ble  LG of Delhi for an effective and practicable framework for disaster management in Delhi. The Secretary (DDMA) / Divisional Commissioner of Delhi is the head of the nodal department for disaster management in Delhi and he is the Convenor of the DDMA. There lies the problem. The head is not responsible to the people of Delhi, he is not an elected representative. In case of National Disasters who does the State Executive look up to? The Army! Even today from airlifting Oxygen Tankers to creating Hospital Beds it’s the Defense Forces. Be it Tsunami, Floods, Earthquake, Cloud Bursts its the Army which is called. Yet the Government does not think it fit to appoint an Army Officer to head this organization and make it accountable to the Elected Government of Delhi. DDMA has been caught sleeping. 
  • At this hour of crisis blame game should be avoided and both Centre and State Government in Delhi should work in cooperation. The reason for such planning failures goes much deeper than the Oxygen Shortage in Delhi. Delhi is a Pseudo State. It is under the Control of the Centre through an appointed LG. The Chief Minister has to send all files for approval to the LG. The vote of a Citizen of Delhi has no value-we are still slaves in that sense. Full Statehood to Delhi is the answer.
• What can we do?
  • Follow the guidelines to protect yourself from the Pandemic.
  • Surround your house with Oxygen giving plants
  • Do Yoga, Pranayam
  • Try “Jal Neeti” – to cleanse your nostrils, as the Virus sits in the nasal passage for 4/5 days, before reaching the lungs.
  • Take Steam Inhalation for about 5 minutes 2 to 3 times a day
  • Lie on the stomach, for natural way to improve breathing
  • Buy an Oximeter to monitor your Oxygen level at home. Cost Rs 2000.
  • Buy an Oxygen Concentrator for home use, hospital beds are full. It costs anything between Rs 50,000 to One Lac. The Government has waived or reduced import duty for limited time, so the prices may come down.
  • Nurture trees, protect the lungs of Delhi, increase its forest cover.
  • Consult a doctor; the author of this article is speaking from experience and claims no medical knowledge.

[About the Author: Lt. Col. Atul Chaudhary (V) I.A. is a vetrean with experience in Aid to Civil Authorities during National Disasters and a Logistics Expert due to his Military Service background. The views expressed are personal.]