Delhi not receiving oxygen due to ‘jungle raj’ in UP, Haryana: Sisodia

Addressing a press conference, Manish Sisodia said Delhi on Wednesday did not even get 50% of the old quota of 378MT allocated for the national Capital

Deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia on Thursday said there is a “jungle raj” situation regarding oxygen supply in the neighbouring states of Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, because of which supplies in Delhi continue to be severely affected, and urged the Central government to deploy paramilitary forces for safe passage of tankers carrying medical oxygen for the national Capital.

Delhi deputy CM Manish Sisodia. (PTI)

Addressing a press conference, Sisodia said Delhi on Wednesday did not even get 50% of the old quota of 378MT allocated for the national Capital. “Even if we go by the old quota of 378MT which Delhi was allotted by the Centre, we did not receive even that. Of the 378MT, Delhi received only 177MT yesterday. This is solely because of the dadagiri of Haryana and UP officials. The dire situation that Delhi is in today is only because there is absolute jungle raj in UP and Haryana over oxygen,” he said.

“Our officials and even the Central government officials have tried to talk to officials in these states, but the situation on the ground has not changed. Our tankers are still waiting outside the plants. In the plants located in Haryana, only tankers from that state are being allowed to go in for refilling,” said Sisodia, who is also the nodal minister for Covid-19 in Delhi.

The Delhi government requested the Centre to intervene and ensure trucks from UP and Haryana safely reach Delhi without any obstructions or delay.

“Since the police in these respective states are being used to stop our trucks, I request the Central government to provide security to the tankers, even if it means deploying paramilitary forces to ensure seamless passage of trucks. Otherwise the horror that has unfolded over oxygen in Delhi over the past three days will turn more dangerous in the coming days,” he said.

The Union government on Wednesday increased Delhi’s quota of medical oxygen from 378MT to 480MT per day. The move to increase Delhi’s quota came after the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government sought at least 700MT per day in order to meet demand in hospitals that has surged due to a flood of Covid-19 patients.

Sisodia said there is chaos regarding oxygen supply in several states across India because despite the Central government increasing Delhi’s quota, several states are trying to have control the supply.

At present, several hospitals in Delhi are facing severe shortage, while in some, there is no oxygen at all. Some hospitals are releasing patients and closing new admissions. Saroj Hospital, Shanti Mukund Hospital, Rathi Hospital, Tirathram Hospital, UK Hospital, Jeevan Hospital sent SOS messages to the Delhi government on Thursday saying their oxygen stocks are over.

“We are trying to arrange oxygen for them at war-footing by diverting it from hospitals that currently have oxygen in excess compared to the demand. But such internal and makeshift arrangements last only for about 2-3 hours. Delhi’s government and private hospitals have oxygen supplies for the next 4 to 12 hours only. The question is when the Central government has clearly allocated oxygen quota to all states, why are states such as Uttar Pradesh and Haryana acting as if there is a fight between them and Delhi,” Sisodia said.

Day before yesterday a truck from Uttar Pradesh’s Modi Nagar was not allowed to leave the oxygen plant after district authorities and local police stopped the truck.

“When that matter was resolved and oxygen supply resumed from Uttar Pradesh, then officials from the Haryana administration went and sat at the plant in Panipat and obstructed timely supply to Delhi. District officials of Haryana sat at the plant in Panipat and did not allow Delhi-bound trucks to leave. It was only at midnight that the truck was allowed to leave the facility,” the minister said.

According to the updated allocation schedule, oxygen will be supplied to Delhi by at least five vendors from plants in Kalinga Nagar, Panipat, Rourkela, Roorkee, West Bengal, Bhiwadi, Barotiwala, Ghaziabad, Surajpur, Kashipur, Modinagar and Selakui.