163 oxygen plants set up in Madhya Pradesh after shortage during 2nd COVID-19 wave: Shivraj Singh Chouhan

The State Administration Council -- as the junta calls itself -- says there is no need for alarm. "Actually we have enough Oxygen," ran the headline in Global New Light of Myanmar, a state-backed newspaper, on July 13. "The people do not need to worry about it so much and should not spread the rumour," it quoted junta leader Min Aung Hlaing as saying. (Image: AFP)

Madhya Pradesh has set up 163 oxygen plants, generating over 182 metric tonnes (MT) of the life saving gas per day so far, after facing scarcity during the second wave of coronavirus, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has said.

In March 2020 (before the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak), oxygen generation plants were not available in any of the government hospitals in the state, the CM noted.

"Now, 163 oxygen plants with a generation capacity of 182 MT per day have been started in different districts of the state, Chouhan said in an official statement on Monday. About 230 MT of medical oxygen will be generated daily when all 202 plants will become operational in the state, he said.

The work on these plants was started after experiencing scarcity of the life saving gas during the second wave of coronavirus.

The completion of the remaining 39 oxygen plants will be ensured by the end of this month, the CM said.

At present, a collective storage facility of 360 MT liquid oxygen is available in government medical colleges of the state.

Apart from this, liquid oxygen tanks, having a capacity of 6 kilo litres each and collective capacity of 248 MT, are being set up in 34 district hospitals of the state, he said.

Also, 13,956 oxygen concentrators has been made available in government hospitals and 1,350 in medical colleges of the state, Chouhan said.

Besides, the Centre has also provided 3,860 oxygen concentrators, he added.

On Monday, Madhya Pradesh reported six fresh cases of coronavirus, raising the infection tally in the state to 7,92,690, while the death toll remained unchanged at 10,523, health officials earlier said.

The COVID-19 recovery count in MP stood at 7,82,086, leaving the state with 81 active cases, they said.