Mumbai: Days after the state government protested against the Centre’s decision to cut 50 MT oxygen supply to Maharashtra from Karnataka, the Minister of State for Home Satej Patil, who is also the Kolhapur district guardian minister, has requested the Centre to keep politics aside and work on a singular mission to save lives of the people struggling with the Covid-19 infection. Patil’s request came as Kolhapur and other districts from Western Maharashtra have been hit hard after the blockage of the oxygen supply.
He urged the Centre to ensure a flawless supply of oxygen to avoid any loss of lives.
“The interruption in the supply of 50MT of oxygen to Maharashtra especially to Western Maharashtra will lead to a shortage of oxygen in Kolhapur, Sangli, Satara, Sindhudurg and Ratnagiri districts,” he said.
Patil has also tweeted by saying that Kolhapur district is all set to become self-sufficient in oxygen supply. “To face the projected third wave of Covid-19 infection, Kolhapur has pulled all strings to set maximum oxygen plants under Mission Oxygen of the state government. We are setting up 14 oxygen plants across the district. Currently, Kolhapur’s daily oxygen consumption is 50.93 metric tonnes, out of which 35 MT is generated within the district. Keeping the rise in the Covid-19 patients in mind, the district may require 63.66 MT oxygen daily in future. The estimated oxygen generation through proposed plants is 23 MT,” he added.
Patil said that the proposed oxygen plants have the capacity of filing 1800 cylinders of gas to cater to at least 1200 patients.
