New Delhi: Even as some of the biggest hospitals in the city struggle with barely hours of medical oxygen supply left, the Delhi government and the Centre bickered over the correct way to calculate the oxygen requirement in the city, with the Delhi High Court, immediately directing the Centre to stop the supply of oxygen to industries with immediate effect instead of from April 22.
Just as the bench of Justices Vipin Sanghi and Rekha Palli was recording its observations and preparing to dictate directions, the Delhi government informed the court that several hospitals were running out of oxygen and that it was imperative that the Centre immediately redirect supply here in addition to adding beds and sending medicines.
During the hearing, Justice Palli had already noted that Ganga Ram hospital was rationing oxygen to patients because of a shortage. According to a list put out by Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, as many as 14 large government and private hospitals have anywhere between 8-12 hours of oxygen supply left with them. Ganga Ram hospital said that its supply was enough to last only till 1 am, if not restocked.
Major Delhi government-run hospitals like DDU, Burari, Ambedkar, Deep Chandu Bandhu, Sanjay Gandhi and Acharya Bikshu have oxygen supply for the next 8-12 hours only as of Tuesday 6 pm. According to him, oxygen stock status for several private hospitals — B L Kapoor, Batra, Venkateshwar, Stephane's, Gangaram and Max (Patpargunj — was only for 4-18 hours.
Even as the HC ordered that oxygen supply be immediately restored to the hospitals that were running out in Capital, CM Arvind Kejriwal took to Twitter to say, "Serious oxygen crisis persists in Delhi... Some hospitals are left with just a few hours of oxygen... I urge the Central government with folded hands to urgently provide oxygen to Delhi."
At 11 pm, Health Minister Jain tweeted SOS messages from GTB hospital saying they had just four hours of oxygen left. Over 500 Covid-19 patients are being treated there, Jain said, pleading for help from Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal.
Jain also took to Twitter to disclose that Delhi had got just 240 MT and 365 MT oxygen on Monday and Tuesday respectively, against the requirement of 700 MT per day.
Meanwhile, as the Delhi government informed the high court that INOX had not yet complied with its directions to restore supply to Delhi, the court issued a contempt notice to the company. In fact, the Delhi government noted that the company was complaining of a "possible law and order situation" being created in UP if they decide to restore supply to Delhi. The court, while dictating orders, also recorded that Delhi was supplied with around 370 MT of oxygen, whereas the requirement as per the Delhi government was of 700 MT. Furthermore, the Centre and Delhi government also argued in court about the supply of drugs like Remdesivir to the Capital even as the court insisted that the proceedings not turn adversarial.
The Delhi government had said that with a requirement of 91,000 vials of Remdesivir, it had got just around 40,000 vials.
Dy CM Manish Sisodia also said the Delhi government was getting SOS calls on shortage of oxygen from all hospitals and asked the Centre to be "sensitive and active" in handling the situation so that there is no "jungle raj" among states over the supply. Sisodia, who is also nodal minister for COVID-19 management, said that for the last one week, the AAP government has been demanding that Centre increase the oxygen supply quota to Delhi.
Meanwhile, the home ministry said it is making all efforts to smoothen the supply lines of oxygen to Delhi to deal with the shortage of medical oxygen in the capital's hospitals.
Sisodia on Tuesday said the Centre should be "sensitive and active" in handling the situation so that there is no clamour among states over its supply.
While hearing the matter, the court also noted that given the situation, it might have to start monitoring the management every day. After passing a slew of other directions to the Centre for Covid management, the court adjourned the matter till April 22.