In view of the increasing demand for medical oxygen, Maharashtra Urban Development Minister Eknath Shinde has taken the initiative to set up 14 oxygen generating plants in local bodies falling under the Mumbai metropolitan area.
The administration will replicate the Pressure Swing Absorption Technology (PSA) technology which has been successfully adopted by the district authorities of Gadhinglaj town in Kolhapur district and other parts of the state and country to generate oxygen directly from atmospheric air.
These plants will be operational in the next few days in Thane, Kalyan Dombivali, Bhiwandi, Ulhasnagar, Ambernath, Badlapur, Mira Bhayander, Vasai Virar, Navi Mumbai and Panvel Municipal Corporations, informed Shinde.
Considering the oxygen requirement in Mumbai metropolitan area, 3 plants have been started in the Thane Municipal Corporation area, 2 each in Kalyan Dombivali and Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation areas and one each in Bhiwandi, Ulhasnagar, Ambernath, Badlapur, Mira Bhayander, Vasai Virar and Panvel.
Once operational, the plant will not only eliminate the hospitals' complete dependence on oxygen refilling companies for cylinders and tankers, it will become a personal asset of the civic body to treat Covid-19 patients and also for other cases of respiratory illness in future.
Involving a simple technology, the PSA plants can separate and purify oxygen generated from the environment and provide it to patients. Apart from Kolhapur, the PSA system is being set up in the Jalna district and also in Nagpur.
