E-Paper
‘I did not control O2’: DC rejects allegations in Chamarajanagar deaths
Bengaluru Mysuru deputy commissioner Rohini Sindhuri on Wednesday refuted allegations that she rationed or controlled oxygen supplies to Chamarajanagar district where 24 Covid-19 patients at a government hospital died reportedly due to shortage of the life-saving gas earlier this week
Bengaluru Mysuru deputy commissioner Rohini Sindhuri on Wednesday refuted allegations that she rationed or controlled oxygen supplies to Chamarajanagar district where 24 Covid-19 patients at a government hospital died reportedly due to shortage of the life-saving gas earlier this week.
Meanwhile, the Karnataka government appointed retired high court judge Justice B A Patil as the one-man commission to inquire into the death of the patients and sought a report within one month.The government also named a senior IAS officer to probe the incident and submit a report within three days.
In a press note, Sindhuri said: “I categorically state that as Deputy Commissioner, Mysuru, I did not ration or control oxygen supplies to Chamarajanagar or any other district.”
“It is the responsibility of the district to manage their own oxygen supplies,” she added.
The deputy commissioner’s clarification came days after the Chamarajanagar administration alleged that Sindhuri had delayed the dispatch of oxygen as she retained most of it for use in her own district, which is one of the worst Covid-19 hit regions outside Bengaluru.
Chamarajanagar deputy commissioner M R Ravi said that Sindhuri’s claims that the district had over 250 cyclinders of oxygen was false. He added that he had brought the matter to the attention of the chief secretary, district in-charge minister and the nodal officer but in vain.
In her letter, Sindhuri said the supply of oxygen was a transaction solely between district authorities and suppliers or refillers and no other administration could intervene in this process.
“If any supplier does not supply or the district needs are not met, the supervision and correction is (taken up) by the state level officers. The Chamarajanagar deputy commissioner should have coordinated with these state level officers and got his supplies. He failed to do that and is now blaming the Mysuru deputy commissioner,” Sindhuri alleged.
“As a matter of fact, Mysuru district, upon emergency request from Chamarajanagar, took out 40 oxygen cylinders out of its own district hospital on the night of 1st May and sent them to Chamarajanagar. All these facts will be proved in the enquiry that is already ordered by the state government,” she added.
The Chamarajanagar DC could not be reached for comment.
The deaths on Monday also led to a slugfest between the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the opposition in the state.
“24 deaths on Monday. 9 on Tuesday due to oxygen shortage. Instead of demanding more oxygen from the Centre, creating more ICU beds & saving lives, BJP is diverting attention from their failures that are causing deaths & distress. Your Govt. Fix the scam. People don’t want drama,” Krishna Byre Gowda, former minister and Congress legislator from Bengaluru, posted on Twitter.
On Tuesday, the Centre had informed the Karnataka high court that the Union government had increased the state’s quota of the gas from 802 to 865 metric tonnes. The state requires at least 1,467 metric tonnes of oxygen amid a massive spike in the number of persons requiring oxygenated beds.
