COVID-19: When Will Delhi’s Oxygen Shortage Crisis End?

As of 5 PM on 11 May, less than 1/3 of Delhi hospitals had more than 1 day of oxygen supply in stock.

The Big Story Podcast on Delhi Oxygen Crisis. Image used for representation only.

(Photo: The Quint)

Since 18 April, when the oxygen supply crisis began in Delhi, hospitals have been sending out SOS calls on a daily basis, with many reporting less than 24 hours of oxygen left.

Three weeks later, on 11 May, the crisis still exists. The Corona Dashboard, a centralised platform created by the Aam Aadmi Party-led Delhi government just a week ago, lists out 201 central government, Delhi government and private hospitals.

As of 5 pm, on 11 May, less than 1/3 of these hospitals had more than one day of oxygen supply in stock. The rest are staring at just hours of oxygen supply, which is dwindling by the minute.

Even though the highest legal body in the land, the Supreme Court, on 7 May, directed the Centre to supply the required 700 metric tons of medical oxygen to Delhi every day till further orders, the capital continues to struggle as supply from the Centre is inconsistent. And the requirement has now risen to 976 tones per day, according to the Delhi government.

Despite orders from the Supreme Court and the Delhi High Court on supplying the required medical oxygen, why is our capital still gasping for breath? When will the oxygen shortage end? What are the bottlenecks in the oxygen procurements process?

To gain some clarity on these pertinent questions, for todays’ episode, we spoke with AAP MLA Raghav Chadha , who lists out a daily Oxygen Bulletin for the UT.