New Delhi: The committee set up to audit Delhi’s oxygen said that during the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic, Delhi increased its oxygen requirement, which could have adversely affected the oxygen supply of other states.
According to the committee, the demand for oxygen kept by the Delhi government between April 25 and May 10 can be 4 times more than the actual requirement.
On May 8, the Supreme Court had constituted a 12-member task force to improve the oxygen delivery system in the country. A separate sub-group was created for Delhi which includes AIIMS Director Randeep Guleria, Max Healthcare’s Sandeep Budhiraja along with senior IAS officers from the Center and Delhi.
The Petroleum and Oxygen Safety Organization (PESO) has told this committee that Delhi had excess oxygen that other states could get. Continuing excess supplies to Delhi could lead to a national crisis.
According to the calculation done on the basis of bed capacity, Delhi needed only 289 metric tonnes of oxygen. But the government put forward a requirement of up to 1140 MT. This was almost 4 times more than the estimated requirement.
The Supreme Court had ordered the Center to supply 700 metric tonnes daily to Delhi. Mehta raised the demand for oxygen audit of Delhi.
The report of the committee is yet to be filed in the court. The matter is to be heard in the Supreme Court on June 30.
In an earlier hearing, the court had termed the method of estimating oxygen demand on the basis of bed capacity as impractical. The court had suggested a change in this method.
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