Technical glitch at state’s lone oxygen plant in Dimapur

 Staff Reporter

 Amidst the rising demand for oxygen in hospitals, Nagaland’s only oxygen manufacturing plant BMA Liquid Air Oxygen/Cylinders located at Naga United Village here has become non-functional following damage of its main 200 KVA motor allegedly due to power fluctuation. 

As the plant caters to almost all hospitals in Dimapur and few in other districts, there is a growing apprehension in some quarters that this could potentially lead to shortage of oxygen in the hospitals. 

Talking to Nagaland Post, BMA Liquid Air Oxygen/Cylinders proprietor Imti Aier said the main motor got damaged few days back due to continuous use to meet the ever-increasing demands for oxygen and also due to erratic power supply.

He, however, confirmed that with the assistance of the State government, a new motor had been airlifted from Kolkata and it was expected to arrive at Jorhat by Monday evening and thereafter transported to Dimapur by road. He assured that once the new motor was installed, normal production of oxygen would resume likely by Wednesday.

Imti said the old motor would take six to seven days to get repaired and would be kept as a backup in case of any emergency. 

Earlier, a team of technicians from the Corps of EME of Indian Army stationed at 3 Corps, Rangapahar Military Station, assisted in carrying out repair works of the oxygen plant’s standby generator. The EME team had carried out the repair work from the night of May 22 to the morning of May 23.

In order to maintain cost, Imti pointed out that he was trying to avoid using the generator to run the machines. He said using the generator would add up to the cost as it consumed large quantity of fuel. 

With higher demands from hospitals, he said constant power supply had become one of the main concerns for smooth production of oxygen and delivering it on time. Meanwhile, according to a staff at BMA, the plant gets around 13 to 14 hours of power supply, during which it can refill upto 150 to 170 D type cylinders (7 cubic metres) and around 300 to 350 B type cylinders (1.5 cubic metres).

He however said that the plant has the capacity to refill around 1500 to 1700 B type cylinders in a day with constant power supply.