The Delhi High Court reprimanded the Central Government for running away from the responsibilities, instructed to arrange oxygen tankers in collaboration with the Delhi government.
New Delhi. In a hearing held in the Delhi High Court today, the Delhi government said that instead of 480 metric tonnes of oxygen, only 309 metric tonnes were received on 23 April. This is the main reason for the lack of oxygen in hospitals in Delhi. It is continuously happening that Delhi is getting less oxygen from its daily quota. The Delhi government said that the root cause of this problem is that for the first time in the Central Government’s revised allocation plan, 102 metric tonnes of oxygen supply to Delhi has been allocated from the plants located in Odisha and West Bengal. The distance of these plants from Delhi is more than one thousand kilometers. The central government has allocated the plants without arranging oxygen tankers. No talks were held with the Delhi government.
The High Court then directed the Solicitor General on 23 April that the Central Government revisit this allocation scheme and ensure that allotment of oxygen plants close to Delhi is allocated so that a tanker can circulate in greater numbers.
The Delhi government stated that before 21 April 2021, Delhi was allocated 140 metric tonnes of oxygen from the Inox plant. In addition, on 15 and 16 April, Inox supplied 140 metric tons and 160 metric tons of oxygen. But in the revised plant allocation scheme released by the central government on 21 April, the oxygen supply from nearby INOX plants was reduced to 100 MT. At the same time, 100 metric tonnes of oxygen supply was allocated to Delhi from the far away plants, from where the supply is not possible. The main reason for the difference between Delhi’s oxygen quota and actual oxygen supply is incorrect allocation.
-Delhi High Court reprimanded the Central Government for overcoming its responsibilities, instructed to arrange cryogenic tankers in collaboration with Delhi government
The hearing was held on April 24 on behalf of the Delhi High Court. The Delhi High Court asked the Center why adequate tankers have not been arranged to supply oxygen from distant plants. The Center brushed off its responsibility and said that the state should make arrangements for tankers.
After this, the Delhi government presented the factual situation in front of the High Court and said that there is a huge shortage of cryogenic tankers across the country to date. It is the responsibility of the Center to allocate the tankers according to the capacity of each state and if necessary import the tankers from other countries. Apart from this, Delhi is a non-industrial state. It does not have a large fleet of cryogenic tankers like other industrialized states. Instead of giving concrete answers and responsibility, the central government officials said that some states are fulfilling their requirement of tankers themselves. Delhi should also fulfill its own requirement.
The Delhi High Court has reprimanded the central government for this attitude. The Center has been directed to work closely with the Delhi government and to arrange adequate number of cryogenic tankers in any possible way. The Delhi government assured the High Court that it would work closely with the Center regarding cryogenic tankers. Apart from this, the Medical Oxygen Quota of Delhi will again demand from the Center to allocate it from the plants of the surrounding states.