Ludhiana: Almost a month after ban on the use of oxygen gas in industrial processes was imposed in Punjab, the factories are now gasping for breath. TOI had recently reported about how the production of the furnace industry had tumbled due to non availability of gas and as a result a large number of factories have shut their operations. However, conditions have gotten even worse now and on Tuesday several business associations issued an appeal to the state government to come up with an alternative to meet industrial requirement of oxygen and also divert additional stock available for industrial use.