After the oxygen crisis faced during the second wave of Covid-19, the BrihanMumbai municipal corporation (BMC) has now set up its own medical oxygen cylinder recharge projects.
 
On Tuesday, guardian minister Aditya Thackeray launched two of the BMC’s new medical oxygen cylinders recharge projects set up at Mahul and Royal Western India Turf Club in the Mahalakshmi Racecourse.  
 
The Mahul plant, a medical oxygen aerobic jumbo cylinder recharge plant (medical oxygen cylinder bottling plant), has been set up in collaboration with BPCL on the Municipal Grounds at Mahul Road, M West Division. The medical liquid oxygen dura cylinder recharge project has been set up at the Royal Western India Turf Club in the Mahalakshmi Racecourse
 
Inaugurating the projects online, Thackeray said, “Mumbai Municipal Corporation saved the lives of patients by bringing medical oxygen from other cities and states during the second wave of Covid-19. One night, more than 1,500 patients had to be evacuated in a war-like condition. In order to prevent such a situation in the future, the corporation decided to set up its own medical oxygen storage and cylinder recharge plant. Today, an important step has been taken in the public dedication of these projects and BMC has been registered as the first corporation in the country to have such a project.”
 
Municipal commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal said, “During the first and second waves of Covid-19, we have set up PSA plants in different hospitals of the corporation to 'absorb atmospheric air and produce oxygen from it’. There are currently 186 Covid hospitals in Mumbai and there are certain limitations for sending oxygen help from one hospital to another in case of emergency. Oxygen projects at Mahul and Mahalakshmi have both storage and recharge facilities. Therefore, 186 hospitals in Mumbai will be able to deliver oxygen anytime, anywhere. When Covid was at its peak, we needed 200 Dura oxygen cylinders a day. Now it will be possible to fill 100 to 120 Dura cylinders from Mahalakshmi project alone, which proves the capacity achieved by the corporation.”
 
Mahul-based Vayurup Medical Oxygen Cylinders Recharge Project:
The project covers an area of about 850 square metres. A total of 3 compressors have been installed here. The corporation has purchased 2 compressors, 1 buffer vessel, 4 manifold skids etc. BPCL Mumbai Refinery has provided plants for this project in the form of public liability. These include 1 compressor, 1 buffer vessel, 4 manifold skids, etc. In addition, BPCL has also laid a 1.5 km long oxygen duct from the Medical Oxygen Production Project of BPCL Mumbai Refinery to the municipal jumbo cylinder recharge project.
 
The BPCL Mumbai Refinery's medical oxygen production plant at Mahul produces about 72 metric tonnes of medical oxygen per day. From that, about 10 to 15 metric tonnes of gas per day will be available for the cylinder recharge project in the atmosphere of medical oxygen corporation. In this recharge project, 112 cylinders with a capacity of 7.1 cubic metres can be filled in one hour. With this calculation about 800 jumbo cylinders can be filled in an 8-hour session. In three 24-hour sessions with 15 metric tonnes availability of oxygen, around 1,500 jumbo cylinders can be filled. An up-to-date laboratory has also been set up to verify the quality of oxygen. The municipal administration has also set up its own transport system to transport the refilled cylinders to the hospitals.
 
Liquid Medical Oxygen Dura Cylinders Recharge Project at Mahalakshmi Racecourse:
A large tank here can store about 13,000 liters of liquid medical oxygen. The project can fill 10 cylinders with a capacity of 210 liters each at a time. The project has the capacity to fill 100 to 120 cylinders per day. Trained and experienced staff has been appointed for its operation. Additionally, 2 special reflective vehicles have been assigned for transporting cylinders. With the reduction in the cost of purchasing a new vehicle due to modification of vehicles overall, the cost of Dura cylinder refill has been reduced by about 35 to 40 percent which is expected to save BMC around Rs 1.5-2 crore.