Several hospitals across states are witnessing shortage of oxygen supply, leading to deaths at many places. The Centre, states and the armed forces have stepped up to mitigate the short supply. Here's what they are doing to fight against the Covid crisis.

SOS oxygen calls are in the news as the second wave of Covid-19 pandemic infects more and more people, breaking records every day. States have called for immediate help from the Centre, and several hospitals have moved the high courts to ensure oxygen supply for their critical patients.

Now the oxygen supply is being monitored by the Centre. The breathing gas was not a controlled commodity earlier as India had been a surplus producer of oxygen.

India has capacity of producing about 7,250 tonnes of oxygen per day. Before the coronavirus pandemic, India's healthcare system had a demand of about 700 tonnes of oxygen per day. The excess production meant the country has about 50,000 tonnes of stored oxygen - industrial as well medical grade.

Industrial oxygen is purified at over 93 per cent to convert it into medical grade, called Liquid Medical Oxygen (LMO). The demand of oxygen in the healthcare system has increased now to 5,000-8,000 tonnes per day. Considering the storage, the demand can be easily met but the problem lies in the logistics of transporting medical oxygen - involving the number of cryogenic containers, and the distribution system.

Following SOS oxygen calls from states and hospitals, and directions from various courts, the central government and some state governments are taking steps to meet the oxygen demand in hospitals.

FRESH ALLOCATION OF OXYGEN

An ugly picture emerged in the past few days when some. Maharashtra and Delhi - two of the worst-affected places by Covid-19 pandemic - complained about oxygen tankers not reaching their hospitals.

The reports led to the Centre relocating oxygen to affected states based on their requirements. A panel, called the Empowered Group 2 (EG 2) under the Prime Minister's Office, is monitoring the oxygen supply. The EG 2 has members from all states, major oxygen manufacturing firms and departments involved in transport.

RAILWAYS RUNNING RO-RO

Some states have more plants to produce. However, Maharashtra and Gujarat, which are the biggest oxygen producers are facing medical oxygen supply problems.

Some states such as Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh and Odisha are oxygen surplus states. Indian Railways has launched a roll-on roll-off (Ro-Ro) train service for transport of medical oxygen from surplus states to deficient states.