The Delhi government is making efforts to airlift its enhanced quota of oxygen supply from Odisha, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Thursday, as several city hospitals reported shortage of oxygen amid rising cases of Covid-19.
CM Kejriwal said that a large amount of oxygen is being transported from Odisha, but it has been time consuming due to the distance.
“A lot of the increased quota is coming from Odisha. This will take time to reach Delhi. In the meanwhile, we are attempting to transport it by air,” the Chief Minister said in a web address.
A few minutes later, CM Kejriwal tweeted thanking Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik for assuring him of help. “Received a call from Naveen Patnaikji. He has assured complete support to Delhi in facilitating lifting of Delhi’s quota of oxygen from Odisha. He has put a special officer on the job. Thank you so much, sir. Delhi is indeed grateful,” the tweet read.
Chief Minister Kejriwal also thanked the Centre and the High Court for their efforts towards raising Delhi’s oxygen quota for treating Covid-19 patients, and said the supplies have started reaching the national capital.
He said a major chunk of the freshly allotted quota of oxygen to Delhi comes from Odisha, which is over a thousand kilometres away, and the Delhi government is planning to airlift it to save time at this critical juncture in the fight against Covid-19.
He said Delhi had a daily quota of 378 MT of medical oxygen that has been increased to 480 MT, and thanked the Central government for it. But, he said, more supplies are needed as according to estimates, Delhi needs 700 MT of oxygen daily.
Delhi received its quota of oxygen as fixed by the Centre from other states, he said, but added that some states stopped trucks headed to the national capital.
“This is not fair. This is a huge calamity and we need to fight it unitedly. If we are divided, India will not survive,” Chief Minister Kejriwal said.
The Chief Minister appealed to state governments to help each other and promised to provide them surplus oxygen, medicines and doctors if the Covid-19 situation came under control in Delhi.
