Gorakhpur: Pushpa Sales Pvt Ltd, the company at the heart of controversy over disruption in liquid oxygen supply at BRD hospital and college, Gorakhpur , has claimed that it never stopped supply to the hospital despite outstanding dues of Rs 69 lakh. Breaking its silence over the tragedy which claimed 30 lives on August 10 and 11, the company said the college was over-dependent on liquid oxygen supply which was a violation of the contract."Liquid oxygen supply maintained by Pushpa Sales to BRD hospital, irrespective of overdue payment, was duly maintained. First supply for this month was made on August 4 and the next intimation for refilling request from the BRD hospital came on August 11, which was fulfilled on August 12," said Meenu Walia of Pushpa Sales. She said that the company had also issued a legal notice to the hospital on July 30 which said the Rs 63.65-lakh dues must be cleared within 15 days, but never stopped supply. The dues rose to Rs 69 lakh by August 8. On an average, Pushpa Sales sends 6,000 litres of liquid oxygen through a tanker to BRD College, which is filled into the hospital's central plant from where it is supplied to wards.One consignment usually lasts approximately six days and the hospital sends a requisition two-three days in advance, said an employee deputed at the hospital's central pipeline unit.The suspended principal of the college, RK Mishra, had earlier said that after the August 4 supply, the company had threatened to stop it if the dues were not cleared.Pushpa Sales, however, said it had threatened to stop supply as the condition of the contract said it could do so if dues crossed Rs 10 lakh, but never did so. It duly sent the supply just a day after the second requisition was made on August 11.A senior doctor at the hospital said two factors seem to have aggravated the crisis on August 10, when three employees at the central pipeline unit alerted the head of paediatrics department about the low level of oxygen in the plant: late requisition by the hospital which, as per Pushpa Sales, was sent only after the death of 30 kids on August 11, and poor stock of oxygen cylinders."Since April, this problem of delay in payment by the hospital had compounded. There were three conditions as part of our contract, according to which liquid oxygen, oxygen cylinders and Ambu bags were to be present at the BRD in abundance. But the hospital became too dependent on us while not refilling their cylinders. The government must find why there were just around 50 cylinders instead of 400 on that particular day when deaths took place. I suspect a big oxygen cylinder theft or racket, which they must find it out," Pushpa Sales MD Manish Bhandari told TOI.He suspected a big oxygen cylinder theft or a possible racket at the college leading to the depleted supply of the life-saving gas. According to an internal note on oxygen demand at the BRD hospital, a copy of which is with TOI, a minimum of 350-400 jumbo oxygen cylinders should be present on a given day as soon as there is shortage of liquid oxygen. But hospital administration and even DG medical education KK Gupta has admitted that there were just 57 cylinders in hospital's stock on August 10 night, when the pressure of liquid oxygen suddenly dipped around 7.30 pm.Even as UP government has suspended college principal RK Mishra and removed Dr Kafeel Ahmad, the senior doctor and nodal officer of encephalitis wing, over alleged irregularities in managing the oxygen supply, Bhandari now says that he is ready for a through probe on his contract."First of all, I am just the supplier and maintained it at BRD College despite dues. The liquid oxygen which we transport comes from 1600 km away in Bhiwandi in Rajasthan. Second, I am a supplier to big hospitals like Tata Memorial Hospital in Mumbai and to hospitals in Ludhiana, Delhi and elsewhere," he said.He also said that the BRD authorities were not able to locate the contract documents and that he has supplied a copy of the same to the probe committee.