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PM Modi, home minister directly monitoring oxygen supplies: Govt tells SC
The Union ministry for home affairs also said that the unprecedented surge in the number of coronavirus cases has also brought about certain limitations in terms of resources.
The Centre on Tuesday told the Supreme Court that the Prime Minister is working towards increasing oxygen supply on a war footing in order to ease the burden on Covid-19 patients on a war-footing and is constantly supervising oxygen supply in the nation.
“The Central Government, with active and constant supervision and direct involvement of the Prime Minister and the Home Minister, is augmenting the oxygen supply on a war footing evolving and implementing innovative measures,” the Centre said in an affidavit to the Supreme Court.
The Centre in its 200-page affidavit, filed in the suo motu case in distribution of essential services and supplies during the Covid-19 pandemic said that any deviation in plan for any particular state (either under a judicial order or otherwise) without keeping in mind the national availability or ever changing requirements of each state will have “cascading effect on oxygen supply to other States.”
The Union ministry for home affairs also said that the unprecedented surge in the number of coronavirus cases has also brought about certain limitations in terms of resources. It added during such times resources need to be “professionally augmented and utilised.”
A bench of Justices DY Chandrachud, L Nageswara Rao and S Ravindra Bhat took the affidavit on record and posted the matter for further hearing on Friday. “It is also pertinent to note that the medical oxygen in any country cannot be unlimited. While the government started all out efforts to augment oxygen resources and procure more and more oxygen from all available sources, these supplies available at any given time in the country are to be distributed to all the states, especially those which are critically burdened with high number of active COVID cases, in a balanced manner,” the government said, according to news agency PTI.
The Union ministry of home affairs also said that it is in the process of commissioning 162 PSA (Pressure Swing Adsorption technology to generate oxygen at local level) plants across the nation a war footing. “It is submitted that 38 plants have already been installed and another 21 plants will be installed by April 30, 2021. A further 105 plants will be installed by May 31, 2021 and thereafter increasing to 156 plants by June 30, 2021. Besides, 500 more PSA plants are planned to be installed in the hospitals in district headquarters to enhance oxygen generation in smaller cities and towns,” Centre said.
