While hearing a petition on the oxygen shortage, the Delhi High Court on Saturday, 24 April, asked both the Centre and the state government to get prepared to overcome the crisis.
Citing the study of Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kanpur, the court said that its assessment is that the peak of the COVID wave will come in mid-May. "We are calling it a wave, (but) it is actually a tsunami," the court said.
The Delhi High Court said that if any official at the central, state or local administration level was obstructing in picking up or supply of oxygen, then it would "hang" that person. It added that whoever obstructs oxygen supply, we will not be spared.
The observation was made by the bench of Justices Vipin Sanghi and Rekha Palli during hearing of a plea by the Maharaja Agrasen Hospital over the shortage of oxygen.
The Delhi High court observed that "the mortality rate needs to be reduced."
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said there might be a rapid rise in the number of cases in May and June and the country needs to be ready for the worst.
He further said that the Prime Minister and others are working on it and have decided to import oxygen and are also exploring the remotest possibility of generating oxygen from wherever it is possible.
Meanwhile, the Delhi government informed the court that the system will "collapse" if it did not get 480 metric tonnes of oxygen.
"When will Delhi get 480 metric tonnes? Please tell us that," the court asked the Union government while hearing Maharaja Agrasen Hospital's petition.
About 20 COVID patients died on Friday night at the Jaipur Golden Hospital due to the low supply of oxygen. The hospital has appealed to the authority in the national capital to arrange oxygen at the earliest.
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