Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday sought help from other chief ministers around the country seeking help on the delivery of oxygen. His desperate plea came moments after the Delhi High Court pulled his government for not doing enough to deal with the oxygen shortages plaguing Delhi hospitals.
Kejriwal’s tweet read, “I am writing to all CMs requesting them to provide oxygen to Delhi, if they have spare. Though Central govt. is also helping us, the severity of corona is such that all available resources are proving inadequate.”
Earlier, the Delhi High Court had slammed the Kejriwal government for not acting proactively in ensuring an uninterrupted supply of oxygen for Delhi hospitals. The high court Bench comprising Justice Vipin Sanghi and Rekha Palli told Delhi government, “The thing is that it is being said you have not taken steps which you’re supposed to because of which allocated oxygen is not reaching you. Can you tell us about that?”
It continued, “Every state is arranging its own tankers, if you’re not having your own tanks, arrange them. You will have to do it, get in touch with the Central govt officers. We are not here to facilitate contact between officers.”
The Delhi government’s lawyer, Rahul Mehra, argued that a mechanism needed to be put in place as lives were being lost. “The local authorities, SDM etc are keeping the tankers with themselves. All tankers are taken. Court: They are saying the mechanism is in place but you are not activating it,” he was quoted by Livelaw.
The high court reminded Mehra that Kejriwal himself had been an administrative officer prior to launching a political party, adding that the Delhi chief minister knew how the sytem works. “If allocation was done 3 days back, why didn’t you exercise your option to look for tankers? Your political head has himself been an administrative officer, he knows how it works,” the court said.
Court: The problem is you think allocation is done so everything will be served at your doorstep but that's not how it works. After allocation have you made any effort for the tankers to collect the oxygen?
Verma: My Lords, we are trying Sir.
— Live Law (@LiveLawIndia) April 24, 2021
An officer representing the Delhi government informed the court that tankers to transport liquid oxygen were not available in the national capital. This excuse appeared to irk the high court as it said, “The problem is you think allocation is done so everything will be served at your doorstep but that’s not how it works. After allocation have you made any effort for the tankers to collect the oxygen?”
The Delhi high court asked both the Delhi and central governments about the level of preparedness since several experts have warned about the COVID-19 Tsunami in May.
Earlier, as many as 25 COVID-19 patients had died at Jaipur Golden Hospital in Delhi due to an inadequate supply of oxygen.