Oxygen supply in Malegaon may be hit

Nashik: The continued supply of oxygen to hospitals in Malegaon became a serious concern on Monday. The lone supplier said he facing difficulties in paying the manufacturer as the local civic administration has not paid him in one-and a half months.
After hearing about the situation, Malegaon municipal commissioner Dipak Kasar said he has directed the officials concerned to process the bills of the supplier and make payments immediately.
Bharat Mehta, the supplier, said he was unable to pay the oxygen gas manufacturer in Nashik as the Malegaon Municipal Corporation had not cleared dues amounting to Rs 5.44 lakh. MMC has been taking oxygen cylinders from Mehta for its Covid-19 hospitals since the second week of April. Although Mehta supplies oxygen both for medical and industrial use, over the past two months, the supply was mainly for Covid-19 centres set up by the civic body.
“The Nashik firm said on Monday that unless we clear the dues of about Rs 5 lakh, we would not get the supply. We have not paid the firm since May,” Mehta said. He has been pursuing the matter with the civic administration for over a month. “Initially, the MMC officials were under the impression that the civic body has already made the payment in advance. The payment of Rs 10 lakh was for purchase of 100 empty oxygen cylinders. The current dues are for refills,” he said..
Mehta has also written to Indian Medical Association cautioning it about the possibility of disruption of oxygen supply in the textile town.
The civic administration promised that the dues would be cleared at the earliest.