The Union Ministry of Home Affairs has placed a complete ban on the use of liquid oxygen for non-medical uses due to the severe scarcity of medical oxygen in the nation.
The Centre has also requested that all manufacturing units increase their liquid oxygen supply. Despite the fact that the Centre had banned the use of liquid oxygen in production, it had made allowances for nine sectors such as steel and petroleum. The Ministry of Home Affairs has now revised the order to state that there will be no exceptions.
The Union Home Secretary, acting under ‘Section 10(2)(l) of the National Disaster Management Act’ and ‘Section 65 of the National Disaster Management Act’, issued an order to the state governments and union territories. "To ensure that use of liquid oxygen is not allowed for any non-medical purpose and that all manufacturing units may maximise their production of liquid oxygen, and make it available to the Government for medical purpose only, with immediate effect and further orders,"it was noted.
It was also started that, "All stocks of liquid oxygen, should also be made available to the Government for medical purposes. No exception is allowed to any industry with regard to use of liquid oxygen."
It's important to note that the Delhi High Court recently recommended that the Centre prohibit factories from using liquid oxygen and order them to channel their captive oxygen to medicinal uses.
"It is a national emergency. You can direct industries with oxygen to divert", In an immediate hearing on (April 21,2021), a bench of Justices Vipin Sanghi and Rekha Palli told the Central Government. The bench was hearing Max Hospital Group's plea that they only had a few hours of oxygen left in stock.
"Today we are in dire straits. We might lose thousands of lives for lack of oxygen. You cannot turn around and say we don't have it, so you have to die. What we are telling you is, you have to go a step further. You have to take captive oxygen from industries. If it means that those industries have to shut till imports (of oxygen) are made, so be it. We cannot afford to lose lives. It might be inconvenient. Let it be inconvenient. Human lives are more important than commercial interests", a visibly anxious bench had told the Centre.
The bench also expressed dissatisfaction with the Central Government for allowing nine categories of industries to use oxygen. The bench ruled that protecting human lives was more significant, and that it didn't matter if businesses had to close for a few days. The Bombay High Court (Nagpur bench) has ordered the State Government to consider invoking powers under the DMA to allow medical oxygen to be used in steel plants.
Pharmaceuticals, petroleum refineries, steel mills, ampoules and vials, nuclear energy establishments, oxygen cylinder manufacturers, waste water treatment plants, food and water purification, and process industries were among the nine industries exempted.
