Taking a step towards being cautious over medical oxygen supply to civic hospitals treating Covid-19 patients, the PMC on Monday deputed officers round the clock to monitor oxygen availability at the hospitals to ensure that there is no shortage at any time. The PMC runs Naidu, Dalvi, Laygude, Khedekar and Baner hospitals, along with a jumbo hospital and ESIC hospital for the treatment of Covid-19 patients. "There is a need to ensure uninterrupted supply for oxygen and ICU beds at civic hospitals. There should not be shortage of medical oxygen at any given time. It is necessary to monitor the stock every two hours and place an order for its supply in advance," said Additional Municipal Commissioner Kunal Khemnar. - Stay updated with the latest Pune news. Follow Express Pune on Twitter here and on Facebook here. You can also join our Express Pune Telegram channel here. He said an executive engineer was being deputed to coordinate with civic hospitals and medical oxygen suppliers for meeting requirements at civic hospitals. Also, junior engineers had been appointed for each hospital to monitor oxygen availability every two hours, he added. Khemnar said the junior engineer should ensure that the availability did not dip below the danger mark, adding, "The supply of medical oxygen should be at least five hours in advance." He further directed concerned officers to take tankers transporting oxygen in their custody with the help of the regional traffic office, and to coordinate with hospitals and oxygen plants for transporting medical oxygen using those tankers. The PMC has also taken up the work of setting up a small capacity medical oxygen producing plant at Naidu and Dalvi hospitals. "The PMC has taken up the work on an emergency basis to set up an oxygen generation plant at Dalvi and Naidu hospitals. It will help in meeting the need of oxygen at these hospitals," said BJP leader Ganesh Bidkar.
