Uttar Pradesh, Manoj Gupta from Hamirpur, owner Rimjhim Ispat Factory in the Sumerpur Industrial Area refilling oxygen cylinders at Rs 1! He fills almost 1500 oxygen cylinders every day and opened his factory to all who need oxygen.
He said, “Oxygen is used to make stainless steel, so we have oxygen plants of different capacities. We use that oxygen directly in the steel-making raw material. Seeing the COVID crisis unfold in front of my eyes, my team and I decided to provide oxygen to people in need as a charity.”
A glimpse of Manoj Gupta’s factory. He refills almost 1500 oxygen cylinders every day.
Grief and devastation are palpable as the country battles the second wave of the novel coronavirus. In these testing times, some are doing their best to help society cope with the crisis. Our Covid Hero today is Manoj Gupta, owner of the Rimjhim Ispat Factory in the Sumerpur Industrial Area of Hamirpur, Uttar Pradesh. Manoj has opened his factory for all and is refilling oxygen cylinders at Re 1 each.
He also said, “We decided to supply oxygen for free. We are charging Re 1 because we have to do billing for the oxygen we produce because it is counted as our product.”
He said, “We are filling 1,500 cylinders every day. It takes one hour to fill one cylinder, along with the unloading and loading time. 24 cylinders can be filled at a time at our plant. People from far off places like Aligarh, Noida, Lucknow, Banaras, and more are coming to our plant to get oxygen filled. We are supplying oxygen to hospitals and also to individuals who immediately need oxygen. They just need to show a medical certificate and we immediately provide them with oxygen.”
“Since we directly use oxygen as our raw material, we don’t have oxygen cylinders, but people can bring their cylinders and get the oxygen filled here.”
Manoj had been a COVID patient last year and said, “I can closely relate to the fear that COVID patients are facing right now. Last year, I tested positive for the virus. I was in the last stage when I was admitted to the hospital. After testing negative, it took me six-seven months to recover completely from the virus. This time, the strain of the virus is more devastating. So, I just wanted to do my bit to help people and which is why we opened our oxygen plant for everyone.”
Talking about the shortage of oxygen cylinders, Manoj said, “There are two types of plants. One that produces dry oxygen, and the other that produces liquid oxygen. Dry oxygen cannot be transported to far off places as it evaporates quickly. Liquid oxygen is the only type of oxygen that is transported in bulk. But Uttar Pradesh doesn’t have many factories that produce liquid oxygen.”
In a strange twist of the sad oxygen saga in India during the COVID second wave, recently NASA announced that it produced oxygen for the first time on another planet and while India may be advancing in technology in other planets, perhaps lakhs of Indians were desperately running all over hunting for oxygen while loved ones were gasping for air and many lost lives due to dearth of oxygen.
The virus attacks by entering the lungs to breed, and this leads to falling oxygen levels because the cells that help transfer oxygen from the lung to the blood are inflamed. Some of the lungs’ tiny air sacs also get filled with fluid, which means that this healthy oxygen exchange gets impaired.
This is why impaired lungs need concentrated oxygen to keep blood oxygen levels steady. and during the ravages of the pandemic, serious patients need oxygen cylinders. Medicines such as dexamethasone can only be administered when the blood oxygen levels are stable.
While the recent loss of lives is devastating with cemeteries and crematoriums flooded, and in some hospitals, the dead bodies are lying amid very sick patients, such are the crowds, the cry for oxygen is growing louder. Today, Pat Cummings, Kolkata Knight Riders fast bowler donated $50,000 to PM Cares Fund, particularly to help India purchase oxygen supplies for India’s hospitals. He urged his IPL mates to contribute to the fight against COVID-19.
In such a time, heroes are emerging to help COVID positive patients and people in India and over the globe are rising up to help India.