AAP’s Arvind Kejriwal, the Chief Minister of Delhi has again levelled some baseless allegations on the central government, saying that the quota of medical oxygen that was meant for Delhi has been ‘diverted’ to other states.
In a tweet, Kejriwal said, “Delhi is facing an acute shortage of oxygen. In view of sharply increasing cases, Delhi needs much more than the normal supply. Rather than increasing supply, our normal supply has been sharply reduced and Delhi’s quota has been diverted to other states. OXYGEN HAS BECOME AN EMERGENCY IN DELHI.”
Kejriwal also wrote a letter to Union Minister Piyush Goyal requesting him to ‘restore’ supply to Delhi. In His letter, he wrote that based on the union government’s formulation, Delhi needs 700 MT of Oxygen, but the output of INOX, a major supplier of medical oxygen to Delhi hospitals, is diverted to other states.
Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal writes to Union Commerce & Industries Minister Piyush Goyal, requesting him to ensure uninterrupted supply of 700MT of oxygen on daily basis & restoration of supply of 140MT of oxygen by INOX, one of the major supplier to various hospitals in Delhi. https://t.co/gAxaRWCqJj pic.twitter.com/iSty7A84hf
— ANI (@ANI) April 18, 2021
He further requested the minister to, “give appropriate instructions to all concerned for ensuring uninterrupted supply of 700MT of Oxygen on daily basis and restoration of supply of 140MT of Oxygen by M/s INOX to Delhi for effectively managing the COVID-19 situation in NCT of Delhi.”
Recently, AAP’s ministers were also seen trying to take credit for the union government’s Covid centres in Delhi.
Just last week, Kejriwal had said that the Delhi government is prepared and there is no shortage of ICU, hospital beds, ventilators, and oxygen in medical facilities.
Ministry rubbished CM Kejriwal’s claims
As per reports, a senior official in the Commerce Ministry has rubbished the allegations and called them “blatant lies”, as per a report in Outlook. As per the official figures, the hospitals in Delhi received 254 MT of medical oxygen on April 16. The quantity was increased 2.4 times on April 17, and the hospitals received 612 MT. However, the daily demand from Delhi was 197 MT. The total stock at Goyal Gas, Linde, INOX, and Air Liquide for Delhi is 311 MT. Reports suggest that the total stock of medical oxygen in the National Capital is 700 MT.
The official further said that the supply of oxygen had been mapped dynamically, and no fixed numbers were allotted to any state. “Every state has to have demand management, otherwise the entire system will collapse,” he added.
The covid-19 situation in Delhi
According to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, India reported 2,74,944 cases yesterday, out of which Delhi alone reported 25,462 standing at third position after Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh. Currently, there are around 74,941 active cases in the state. In the last 24 hours, 20,159 have recovered while 161 have lost their lives.
