Hyderabad: Taking serious note of the death of 11 Covid-19 patients due to disruption in oxygen supply at a government hospital in Chittoor district, Andhra Pradesh chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy on Tuesday constituted a three-member committee of IAS officers to ensure uninterrupted procurement of the live-saving gas for the state.
Besides this, in a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi later in the day, the chief minister requested the Centre to increase its allocation of liquid medical oxygen (LMO) for the state.
On Monday night, 11 Covid-19 patients died of asphyxiation after the oxygen supply was disrupted due to a brief delay in arrival of tankers from Sriperumbudur in Tamil Nadu to state-run Sri Venkata Ramnarayan Ruia Hospital in Tirupati, Chittoor district, officials said.
The chief minister, who held a high-level meeting on Monday to review the incident and take stock of the oxygen situation, said Andhra Pradesh was procuring the gas from Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Odisha to meet its needs.
Reddy announced the constitution of a panel of three senior IAS officers – special chief secretary (industries and commerce) Karikal Valaven, principal secretary (skill development and training) G Ananta Ramu and chairman of AP Pollution Control Board A K Parida – to look into the supply of oxygen from these states.
“Valaven will take care of oxygen supplies from Tamil Nadu, Anata Ramu from Karnataka and Parida from Odisha. They will focus on enhancing the supply of oxygen from these states and ensure there is no time lag in its distribution to all government hospitals in the state. The committee will function from Wednesday,” an official release quoted the chief minister as saying.
{{/usCountry}}“Valaven will take care of oxygen supplies from Tamil Nadu, Anata Ramu from Karnataka and Parida from Odisha. They will focus on enhancing the supply of oxygen from these states and ensure there is no time lag in its distribution to all government hospitals in the state. The committee will function from Wednesday,” an official release quoted the chief minister as saying.
{{/usCountry}}In his letter to Modi, Reddy urged the Centre to increase the allocation of LMO from the present 590 tonnes to 910 tonnes, besides 20 LMO tankers to meet the growing demand of hospitals in the state amid a massive surge in cases.
The chief minister said out of the present allocation, 210 tonnes of LMO was allotted from Orissa which was around 1,400 km from Rayalaseema region, resulting in delay in supply. Besides, the state was currently drawing 35 tonnes from St Gobain, Chennai and 25 MT from INOX, Sriperumbudur in Tamil Nadu.
“The delay in supply from Sriperumbudur led to the tragic incident in Tirupati hospital,” Jagan said.
The chief minister announced an ex gratia of ₹10 lakh each for the kin of the 11 Covid-19 patients who died on Monday. “We shall reach out to each of these families and extend all possible help to them,” he said.
The deceased were identified as S Fazulullah (41) from Kalikiri, Mohd Basha (47) from Tirupati, Devender Reddy (58) from Yerravaripalem, P Ghouse Basha (37) from Punganur, Venkata Subbaiah (28) from Rajampet, Tanuja Rani (48) from Gajula Manyam, K Babu (55) from Mangalam, D Shahith (27) from Varadayapalem, Bhuvaneshwar Babu (36) from Chittoor, Rajamma (71) from Vallamedu in Nellore and S Mohammad (72) from Tirupati.
While the chief minister has already ordered a probe into the incident, no case has been registered so far.
During the review meeting, Reddy directed that war rooms be created in every district to monitor the oxygen supply to various hospitals. “Whenever there is an SOS from any hospital, authorities should immediately respond and inform about the same to higher officials. The entire exercise should be closely monitored by district collectors,” he said.
Jagan also asked officials to see whether there were any oxygen storage facilities in the districts, including in industries. “We have already taken the help of various agencies, including the Navy, to ensure timely supply of oxygen tankers to the districts. Sufficient care should be taken to ensure oxygen supply even in Covid Care Centres,” he said.
The chief minister said the state medical and health department has already started the purchase of oxygen concentrators which would be supplied to all hospitals shortly. He asked hospital authorities to maintain oxygen supply pipes from time to time with the help of technical staff to ensure proper supply at the regulated pressure.