Why India is facing shortage of oxygen during second wave of COVID-19

India is in chaos because of the second wave of coronavirus. The country’s single-day hike on Wednesday reached to nearly 3 lakh cases with over 2,000 fatalities. Hospitals are overcrowded and there is a severe dearth of medical oxygen in several hospitals across the country. While people are forced to fight this battle on their own to fend for oxygen cylinders, the question that arises is, who is accountable for this shortage?

A report on the country’s oxygen export by the Department of Commerce for FY-21 shows that India had exported double the amount of oxygen in the first ten months compared to the previous financial year. 9,301 metric tones in FY-2021, whereas only 4,502 metric tones in FY-2020. During the first wave of the pandemic, the demand for liquid medical oxygen was much lower at 2,800 metric tonnes per day (MTPD) which has increased to 5,000 MTPD. The exported oxygen was deemed suitable for both medical and industrial usage.  

People are bashing the government for its failure to not be able to meet this oxygen demand. But our oxygen production is currently at 7,000 metric tons, which is higher than the daily oxygen requirement. Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) Director-General Balrm Bhargava has mentioned that the growing demand for medical oxygen is because of shortness of breath as a major symptom during the second wave of COVID-19.

Another reason for this shortage is uneven distribution through supply and logistic chains.

To tackle this situation, the government has announced a ban on the sale of oxygen to most industries, which uses furnaces for production. It will come into effect from April 22. Besides, Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan has also informed that the centre sanctioned the setting up of 162 Pressure Swing Adsorption (PSA) oxygen plants at public health facilities with the capacity of 15419 MT. Out of these, 33 have already been installed across Bihar, Karnataka, and Telangana; and one each in Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Haryana, Kerala, Maharashtra, Puducherry, Punjab, and Uttar Pradesh. 

The Indian Railways also announced the commencement of ‘Oxygen Express’ via a green via green corridor carrying oxygen cylinders across the country.