Mumbai: In the midst of a nationwide medical oxygen crisis, the Supreme Court recently praised Mumbai's response to the spread of COVID-19, proposing that the Mumbai Model can be replicated in Delhi. With this model working efficiently, let us try to understand what exactly is this Mumbai Model.
The need for liquid oxygen in the ongoing second wave has increased on large scale. Due to the acute shortage of oxygen, we have witnessed people losing their lives. Though many parts of the country are facing the oxygen shortage, BMC (Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation) didn't faced any crisis.
The BMC stood strong with its model and the man behind this model was none other than its Municipal Commissioner IS Chahal.
Amid the increasing oxygen demand at the start of the second wave, BMC conducted a survey of oxygen consumption in Mumbai. The survey results displayed that Mumbai’s oxygen need is about 235 metric tonnes every other day and the civic body can source 130 to 275 metric tonnes of liquid oxygen every day from private companies.
The state can provide liquid oxygen via road. So, Mumbai benefits directly from proximity to these plants.
Later the, teams of doctors formed protocols for the use of oxygen so that 'life saver' is not wasted. Health experts were asked in to deliver training on minimum consumption by monitoring saturation and leakage. This is the reason why 275 metric tonnes of oxygen was sufficient in financial capital of India despite the city having more than 90,000 active cases.
Primarily, the civic body was dependent on the oxygen supply through refills. The officials who monitored the situation during the first wave thought that the refilling process is not that efficient during the second wave thus they switched to jumbo cylinders which are 10 times more capacity. BMC set up liquid medical oxygen tanks with a capacity of 13,000 kg litres.
COVID facility centres, which had more beds, installed two jumbo cylinders that would take care of 02 supply of all the beds for 2 to 3 days. However, only 10-20 per cent oxygen was in use then. Now, every hospital has been converted from refilling method to storage-supply mode.
Also, in a smart move, the BMC has not scrapped the old cylinders. They have kept them in reserve. If faced oxygen shortage, they can immediately shift to a regular cylinder and run the oxygen supply for the next 1 to 2 days. This is how Mumbai Model so far is working successful in the city.
In a major development, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday called up Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray to get an overview of Maharashtra's war against the COVID-19.
During the conversation, the PM praised Thackeray's efforts and observed that the state has put up a fght amid the ongoing second wave of the novel virus
Thackeray informed PM Modi about the steps taken by the Maharashtra government in view of the potential third wave of the outbreak. "Thackeray also requested for more supply of oxygen to Maharashtra," the CMO statement said.
"The Prime Minister and the Centre have been guiding us in this battle since the beginning and it has been proven beneficial. We are thankful to the Centre for accepting some of our suggestions and demands," the statement added.
Modi's call came a day after the CM decided to set up a special Covid Task Force on Pediatrics as the probable 'third wave' could hit children in a big way, especially since this category is not yet cleared for the vaccine drive.
Thackeray has also requested PM Modi to allow states to launch their own mobile app to handle the vaccinations and they could be linked with the Centre's CoWin App for smooth process.
Meanwhile, the state on Saturday reported 53,605 new cases, much lower than the record high of 68,631 cases recorded on April 18, taking the state's overall total crossing the 50 lakh-mark.