The Delhi government on 4 May, Tuesday, cornered the Central government over the allocation of medical oxygen to the national capital on Monday, stating that it had received only 433 metric tonnes (MT) oxygen on Monday against its requirement of 976 MT – which comes to 44 percent of the requisite amount to mitigate the crisis.
Sharing the details in a video conference, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA Raghav Chadha said that 41 hospitals in the national capital sent SOS calls for oxygen on Monday through various platforms, including social media, phone and official helplines.
In these 41 hospitals, Chadha said, the total number of people on oxygen support was 7,142. The Delhi government supplied 21.3 MT oxygen.
"We answered to all the 41 SOS calls and ensured that oxygen was supplied by hook or crook. The gap of 56 percent between the demand and the supply in oxygen still exists and the faster we overcome the gap, the faster such SOS calls will come down," Chadha said.
"The Delhi government needs 976 MT of oxygen while what we received on 3 May from the Centre was only 433 MT. This is only 44 percent of what we need and what we had demanded from it," Chadha said.
The AAP leader also said that Delhi had received an average of 393 MT of oxygen a day last week against a requirement of 976 MT, which was just 40 percent of the total demand.
The AAP MLA said, "The team of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal is working round the clock to overcome the shortage of oxygen through better management."
The AAP leader said that all Delhi government officials, employees and ministers are working day and night, tracking the hospitals.
Noting the plea of the mother of a 10-year-old on Monday, the AAP leader said that her son was on oxygen support, but the hospital was on the verge of exhausting its stock. "We immediately addressed the situation and diverted our truck to the hospital."
"As all of us know, oxygen scarcity has caused us to fight a relentless battle with COVID-19 in Delhi. The Kejriwal government is doing its best and making all efforts to facilitate sufficient oxygen supply at all the COVID hospitals. We are doing everything we can so that every patient returns home healthy, safe, and sound," he said.
Chadha clarified that the AAP government had decided that it was necessary to put all the figures with utmost transparency in front of the people of Delhi.
"The amount of oxygen we received in the past week, the number of SOS calls we addressed, and how we are actually dealing with the situation on a 24×7 basis through adequate communication...this oxygen bulletin is an attempt to put all of this in front of the people of Delhi," he said.
The AAP leader said that this insufficient allocation has led to the scarcity of oxygen in the national capital.
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