Bengaluru: The Uttar Pradesh government on Friday informed that it was the first state in the country to conduct an oxygen audit, which had enabled it to save 30 metric tonnes of oxygen daily.

UP Additional Chief Secretary (Information) Navneet Sehgal said several hurdles were overcome to improve the oxygen situation in the state. The oxygen supply in the state had increased three times, going up from 350 MT to 1050 MT
    
The biggest challenge was to bring liquid medical oxygen from Jharkhand, West Bengal and Odisha and then diverting it to the districts. The administration saved 40 per cent of the time in this process by seeking help from the Railways (Oxygen Express) and the Indian Air Force.

As many as 57 tankers were transported on 18 Oxygen Express trains from Lucknow and Bareilly to Bokaro from April 22 till May 11. Besides, 48 tankers were brought in six Oxygen Express trains from Jamshedpur to Lucknow between May 4 and May 11. 

Given the rising demand for oxygen in the second wave of the novel coronavirus, the government launched the digital 'Oxygen Monitoring System for UP' -- the first of its kind in the country. The digital platform allows officials to track down the real-time location of oxygen tankers so that they could reach the needy in time.

The Indian Institute of Technology in Kanpur, Varanasi and Lucknow, and other top academic institutions in the state assisted the Yogi Adityanath government in implementing the oxygen audit application. Emphasis was also placed on increasing the production of oxygen in the state right from the beginning of the second way of the pandemic.

Notwithstanding the daily quota of 894 MT by the central government, the UP government is currently supplying about 1050 metric tonnes of oxygen. 

Alok Kumar, Principal Secretary of Medical Education, said that the average consumption of oxygen in medical colleges has decreased by about 10 per cent since the start of the audit. About 30 metric tonnes of oxygen are being saved daily.