The Centre and Delhi Government must work in tandem to ensure regular oxygen supply to people

Scores of precious lives have been lost due to the horrific oxygen crisis in Delhi, under the very nose of the Central and State Governments, the Supreme Court, High Court and civic authorities. Still, there is no clarity on what led to such a dreadful situation. The Centre has repeatedly laid the blame on the door of the Arvind Kejriwal Government while the State administration has held supplier Inox responsible for the delay in distribution and asserted that the supply was “grossly inadequate” to meet the demand of the hospitals. The truth lies somewhere in between. Kejriwal admits that the Centre has increased Delhi’s oxygen quota again from 480 metric tonnes (MT) to 490 MT but accessing it remains a big issue. Delhi’s requirement is 700 MT but, according to him, only 330-335 MT is available. With the exponential rise in COVID-19 cases, the demand has also increased. The demand-supply gap has led to the current situation. However, it’s not the time for a blame game but to work together to save lives and win the trust of the people who are fast losing faith in the institutions of governance. If the situation is allowed to persist, we would be headed towards an unprecedented chaos and may face an eruption of mass protests that could worsen the Corona spread in the Capital. It’s time for the Centre to appoint an independent authority/regulator to take a holistic view of the situation, analyse the demand-supply gap, suggest corrective measures to remove distribution bottlenecks and ensure that no hospital is left without oxygen.

Any delay could be fatal because oxygen supplier Inox has already thrown in the towel and expressed its inability to enhance the supply, citing production constraints. Faced with such a situation, the Centre and the State have to come together and reach out to industrial houses to help Delhiites. The Chief Minister has already written to industrialists to provide a helping hand in handling the oxygen crisis. It is equally important that the State authorities set up a control room for both hospitals and patients to help them inquire about oxygen supply and the availability of oxygen beds. In the absence of such a setup, the hospitals and patients both rush to social media and TV channels to vent their grievances, leading to more panic. Both the Governments should also take urgent steps to ensure that all hospitals are equipped with oxygen plants, which require little investment and most of the big hospitals can comfortably meet this expenditure. In very few developed countries can such big health setups exist without oxygen plants, which are seen as a basic requirement. It’s heartening to note that the Delhi Government has decided to set up half a dozen of its own oxygen plants to deal with the situation. We hope that the Centre and the Delhi Government understand the urgency of the situation and the growing frustration of the people, and join hands to ensure that no one gasps to death for want of oxygen.