NEW DELHI: As a massive shortage of oxygen was reported at hospitals across the national capital for the second consecutive day on Wednesday, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said the Delhi government has appealed to the central government, which controls supply, to allocate more oxygen to the city. According to Sisodia, Delhi’s oxygen quota is 378 metric tonne (MT) while the demand has increased manifold due to rising Covid cases. He demanded that the city be given 700 MT.
“We have been reiterating that the hospitals in Delhi do not have enough oxygen supply. We have been in constant touch with the central government regarding the same. The oxygen quota decided by the Centre and the present allocation is not enough due to the increase in Covid cases.
Delhi does not have its own oxygen plants. The cases have increased exponentially in the city and many patients from other states have also come to Delhi, hence there is a greater need for oxygen supply,” he said at a press conference on Wednesday.
A government official said the Centre has increased Delhi’s quota to 480 MT. However, several hospitals kept flagging the scarcity of oxygen till late evening. Popular hospital chain Max Healthcare moved the Delhi High Court in the evening over the shortage of medical oxygen at its hospitals in Delhi-NCR.
Sisodia further said the supply for Delhi from a plant in Faridabad was “monopolised” and “directed” towards Haryana by an official of the Haryana government. “Similar ordeal took place on Tuesday at a plant near Modi Nagar when we had to call a senior union minister. It was only after his help that the oxygen supply reached Delhi. I plea to the Centre to ensure that states don’t take undue monopoly over oxygen.”