SunstarTV Bureau: Delhi, which is facing an acute shortage of medical oxygen, has lifted only 22.92 MT of it from Odisha in the last five days as against its per-day quota of 70MT, as allocated by the Centre on April 21. Andhra Pradesh has lifted the maximum 644.72 MT liquid medical oxygen from the state in the last five days.
The Centre has allocated a lifting quota of 40 MT medical oxygen daily for Delhi from Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP) and 30 MT from Tata Steel at Kalinga Nagar in Jajpur district.
Wary of the acute shortage of medical oxygen in Delhi, chief minister Naveen Patnaik had on April 22 spoken to Prime Minister Narendra Modi over phone and extended all cooperation including ramping up oxygen production to assist other states in this emergency. Naveen also spoke to Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and assured complete support in facilitating oxygen support to Delhi. Naveen had also directed Odisha Police to set up dedicated green corridor for smooth loading and transport of medical oxygen to the needy states.
Official sources said, Delhi lifted 22.92 MT oxygen from RSP on April 22 and did not seek the state police’s green corridor. “We launched our green corridor on April 22 night and have not received any requisition from the oxygen suppliers to escort any tanker to the national capital from Odisha. Delhi took 22.92 MT oxygen from RSP on April 22 on their own,” a senior police officer said.
(Sources: Times of India)
