In a much needed breather for the citizens of the twin-city, Mira Bhayandar Municipal Corporation’s (MBMC) own oxygen generator plant started functioning from Monday.
Installed next to the Bharat Ratna Pandit Bhimsen Joshi Civil Hospital which is a dedicated Covid-19 treating facility in Bhayandar, the new plant has been designed for a capacity of 840 litres per minute (LPM) which can supply medical oxygen to 120 beds.
The civic 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.
The PSA technology is capable of generating oxygen and directly supplying it to hospital beds or can be used to fill 175 jumbo cylinders on a daily basis. The plant has been commissioned by Airox Technologies, a private limited company, which is associated with a USA-based firm.
After learning that three such PSA plants had been approved for Maharashtra, local legislator Geeta Jain managed to convince the state government authorities especially Thane district guardian minister Eknath Shinde to allot one plant in Bhayandar by highlighting the alarming upward trend in the coronagraph of the twin-city. Jain had also written a letter to CM Uddhav Thackeray in this context.
The plant which carries an approximate price tag of Rs. 1.80 crore has been funded by the District Planning and Development Council (DPDC) kitty. “Work is in progress to set up another medical oxygen plant at Appasaheb Dharmadhikari Covid treatment facility in Mira Road having a capacity to fill 200 jumbo cylinders,” informed MBMC Mayor Jyotsna Hasnale.
The oxygen plants would not only eliminate the hospital's complete dependence on oxygen refilling companies for cylinders and tankers, but will become a personal asset of the MBMC to treat Covid-19 patients and also for other cases of respiratory illness.
