NEW DELHI: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday directed senior government officials to install 48 oxygen plants reaching the national capital as soon as they are delivered. The CM also asked district magistrates (DMs) to pay surprise visits to vaccination centres and hunger relief centres of their respective districts to their smooth functioning.
"The 48 oxygen plants should be installed immediately as soon as they reach Delhi. These plants have an oxygen production capacity of 40 tonnes. This will further help in improving Delhi's oxygen situation. We have to prepare long-term plans and build the capacity of oxygen storage on a very large scale in Delhi. We should also create a special storage capacity for the storage of oxygen," said Kerjiwal.
These directions were issued during the high-level meeting held on Friday to review the current situation in Delhi which was chaired by the CM. He directed the officials to ensure that following the improvement in the situation of oxygen there should be no death because of the shortage of oxygen.
"Now that Delhi has received oxygen, no one in Delhi should suffer because of shortage of oxygen. All the hospitals in Delhi should increase their beds and every DM should arrange new oxygen beds in their districts so that no deaths happen due to lack of oxygen in Delhi," he said.
He said that oxygen should be used efficiently and try to prevent oxygen wastage. Kejriwal further asked the officials to ensure that all eligible people are vaccinated within the next three months.
"All DMs have been directed to make surprise visits to vaccination centres in their districts every day to review the functioning of the centres. At the same time, they have also been instructed to visit hunger relief centres to ensure that the poor are not facing any problem with food and all facilities. They will also check whether treatments are being provided in shelter homes, old-age homes, and orphanages," said an official.
Kejriwal expressed displeasure over non availability of oximeters to COVID patients in home isolation. "In any case, it should be ensured that oximeters are given to all patients recovering from COVID in home isolation. We need to recruit retired doctors, nurses, and medical staff on a large scale. Whoever wants to help the society should join government and contribute to helping in this difficult situation," the CM added.