It could have been plot for a Hollywood thriller. More than 550 lives at stake and a group of person running against time, taking all measures at their command to save them. In the end, the efforts paid off and lives saved in time.
But, it was a real-life situation in Darbhanga on May 5, 2021 when the only oxygen plant catering to around 500 patients in Darbhanga and neighbouring districts like Madhubani, stopped working due to a technical issue. With only two hours of oxygen at their hands, the district administration moved heaven and hearth to solve the crisis. The Oxygen plant was repaired by next day morning and miraculously none of the lives were lost, thanks to their efforts.
SOS ALERT BY THE DM
As per the turn of events, a minor leak was reported in the private oxygen plant at Madhopatti at 6 pm. The technical person at the plant promised to fix the glitch within an hour. But he gave up at 7 pm. Recounting the horrors of the eventful night, Deputy Development Commissioner Tanai Sultania told Indian Masterminds, “We were in for a major crisis as we had oxygen to survive only till 8:30 pm and there was no one in Darbhanga who could fix the glitch.”
The pipe, which connects the storage tanker to cooling pipes, had burst. DM Darbhanga Thiyagrajan SM immediately sent an SOS alert to the headquarters and the management team at various hospitals in the district. He asked all hospitals to keep their requirements minimum and all hospital managers/main people to manage and be alert at night.
Recalling the events to Indian Masterminds, Mr. Thiyagrajan SM said, “All my senses stopped working for a second. But I had to take immediate action as 500 lives were at stake.”
SEEKING HELP FROM ALL ENDS
Mr. Thiyagrajan started contacting District Magistrates of nearby districts like Mazzafarpur, Samastipur, Purnea, Kishanganj, Begusarai for help. In the meanwhile, he also informed the Development Commissioner of Bihar Amir Subhani, who helped a lot during this sudden crisis in the district.
Mr. Thiyagrajan said “We requested oxygen cylinders from them and they were kind enough to lend us some as during this Covid situation, not every district has surplus cylinders to spare. To streamline the distribution system, we set up a control room at the DMCH.”
They found that prior to the breakdown, a vehicle was being loaded at the plant to be dispatched to Madhubani with 27 cylinders. Senior Deputy Collector and the nodal officer for oxygen supply in the district, Satyam Sahay, arrived requested the Madhubani SDM if they can use the cylinders. The vehicle was then diverted to the DMCH control room.
Meanwhile, Mr. Thiyagrajan approached an agency in Delhi which asked them to replace the high-pressure flexible pipe by welding a copper pipe. However, the owners of the private oxygen plant did not have enough resources and technician to weld the plant. The night was progressing fast and the crisis too was deepening at even greater speed.
Mr. Satyam Sahay said, “An oxygen plant in Deoghar had also faced a similar problem before, so DM Darbhanga lined up a video call between the technician who fixed that issue in Deoghar with our local technician, and found out that we can go ahead with the plan which the Delhi agency had proposed.”
RATIONALISING CYLINDER DISTRIBUTION
As the district didn’t have the required welding machine, support came from the nearby Begusarai district which houses the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) plant and thus has a plethora of technicians. They immediately despatched 40 oxygen cylinders along with their engineers.
Mr. Satyam Sahay was sent to the DMCH to monitor the judicious distribution of oxygen cylinders. Out of the 27 cylinders, two were sent to RB Memorial Hospital, two to Jogender Memorial Hospital, and five to Paras Hospital. Out of the remaining 18 cylinders, 8 were used in the manifold plant, and 10 for individual needs. We knew our stock was depleting fast and had to replenish it.”
First help reached from the Samastipur district administration which sent in 60 big oxygen cylinders. The cylinders reached around 12:30 am and saved the district from the worst situation that was developing. Another consignment of sixty cylinders came from Muzzafarpur 65 km away, at 1 am, out of which 20-25 cylinders were sent to the Covid ICU and the rest were sent to the DMCH. This provided the district with a backup till morning.
Meanwhile, the engineers and 40 oxygen cylinders arrived from Begusarai – covering a distance of 115 km — at 2:30 am and the repair work started immediately. With everything already lined up, it took engineers only one hour to repair the plant and it started functioning at 3:30 am.
Help however kept pouring in even after that. A technician from East Champaran also arrived after the plant had been repaired. Another vehicle with 40 oxygen cylinders reached from Purnea – from almost 235 km – but was sent back as the plant had already started functioning.
Darbhanga district administration has not been able to thank enough those who helped it avert the crisis and saved over 550 lives.
