The plants’ installation will make the hospitals self-reliant and will ease the oxygen shortage faced by hospitals during the pandemic
Uttam Group of Companies has partnered with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to set up three new oxygen plants in Meghalaya, including Civil Hospital, Tura; Civil Hospital, Nongpoh; and Civil Hospital, Jowai, a statement said.
It said that all this while, hospitals were dependent on oxygen supply by the external sources and logistic management has been a challenge. These plants’ installation will make the hospitals self-reliant and will ease the oxygen shortage faced by hospitals during the pandemic. It’s a step closer to the preparation for the widely-anticipated third wave of the pandemic warned by health authorities. Uttam Group has been working closely with UNDP for the timely installation of these plants, and will continue to maintain them.
The statement also notified that the inauguration ceremony was attended by Conrad K Sangma, Chief Minister, Meghalaya; HE Satoshi Suzuki, Ambassador, Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Japan to India; Ram Singh, Deputy and John Borgoyary, Regional Head, UNDP.
Meghalaya has a mountainous terrain and many sites were at a fair distance from the nearest major town/city. Preparing the site was one of the challenges but Uttam Group’s engineering and logistics teams, along with UNDP staff, executed these projects in less than two weeks. The oxygen plant installed in Tura has a production capacity of 1.1 ton per day, highlighted the statement.
Speaking on the occasion, Dr Manish Pant, Head – Health and Governance, UNDP, said, “Installing oxygen-generation plant is a crucial project, as we should be better prepared for the third wave of the pandemic. Beyond COVID-19, the plants will continue to serve Meghalaya and the North East as a whole. We are thankful to the government of Japan for showing interest in Meghalaya and helping us build these oxygen plants that will serve as a ray of hope to Meghalayan people.”
Adding to it, Chief Minister Sangma said, “I thank UNDP, the Japanese government and his Excellency for their contribution and support for Meghalaya during this crisis. The Indian government has always shown a desire to work with Japan, and, at this difficult time, we are finding innovative ways to help each other. The healthcare scenario in India is very challenging due to COVID-19 but with mutual effort, we can face the situation strongly.”
Throwing light on the Indian hospitals’ infrastructure, Karan Bhatia, CEO, Uttam Group, said, “I am thankful for the support that Uttam Group of companies has received from the Indian authorities and international agencies. The hospital infrastructure in India is majorly dependent on external sources for oxygen supply and there is an urgent need for in-house oxygen-generation units in hospitals. These three plants will make the hospitals self-reliant for their oxygen requirement during the current health crisis.”
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