Ever since the unfolding of the pandemic in India, the country has struggled with a shortage of oxygen. This time, however, the matters are much worse. The country’s healthcare system is undergoing a lot of pressure.

On the 22nd of April, 25 patients in Delhi’s Sir Ganga Ram Hospital had died due to shortage of oxygen. The news of this tragedy came when almost all hospitals of Delhi are reporting insufficient stocks of oxygen. Not only Delhi, but other states like Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Gujarat etc. are all facing acute shortage of oxygen.

Some hospitals in Uttar Pradesh have put boards of “Oxygen out of stock” outside their gates while others in the capital city of Lucknow were asked to leave. 

In Madhya Pradesh, oxygen cylinders were looted.

On April 18, the Central Government directed manufacturers to not supply oxygen other than medical purposes, leaving only 9 industries. But this will only help with 4,600 metric tonnes of Oxygen over the daily demand of 8,000 metric tonnes of Oxygen.

 The Supreme Court of India has called these times a National Emergency. On the other hand, the Delhi High Court on April 21 reprimanded the Centre over the issue of lack of Oxygen cylinders in Delhi and several other states. It demanded the Centre to “beg, borrow or steal” to make sure that oxygen reaches hospitals on time. The Delhi Police was also requested to create ‘Green Corridors’ for oxygen tankers.

The Centre as well as some state governments have now taken the matters in their hands. The Central Government has decided to airlift mobile Oxygen generic plants from foreign countries. The Air Force has been commanded to airlift 23 generic plants from Germany. The Delhi Government is also going to airlift tanks of Oxygen from Orissa. States like Maharashtra will be helped by neighbouring states like Gujarat.

But even after all these measures, the problems do not seem to end. The transportation and storage of the breathing gas requires cryogenic tankers and cylinders which are simply unavailable due to unpreparedness of the manufacturers. To combat these problems, the Empower Group, appointed by the Centre is thinking of installing Pressure Swing Absorption (PSA) plants so that hospitals can produce their own oxygen, eliminating the problems of storage and transportation.

Hospitals are also constructing big storage tanks to ensure consistent supplies for 10 days straight. 

The Indian Railways has also come up to transport oxygen rather than only depending on road transportation.

According to experts such as Dr. Randeep Guleria, Director of AIIMS, the intermittent use of Oxygen by people just out of fear is just a waste of Oxygen. He requested people not to hoard Oxygen cylinders unnecessarily.

The situation has elevated to a level where the Government has decided to set up Oxygen plants across various states. The execution and efficiency of these plans, however, are still ambiguous, and appear tiny against the crisis that is magnifying everyday.