New Delhi:
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday said that the Delhi government has decided to import 21 ready-to-use oxygen plants from France and 18 oxygen tankers from Bangkok, to ensure a steady supply of oxygen in hospitals across the national capital.
He also said that within the next one month, the Delhi government will be installing 44 oxygen plants in Delhi, out of which 8 plants will be installed by the Central government.
The current wave is extremely dangerous and contagious and the hospitals are overloaded, to combat the load, 1200 beds will be added in Delhi by May 10 and Ramleela Maidan is also being converted into an ICU bed centre, he added.
Addressing a press conference, Kejriwal said, “A major issue facing us today in the supply of oxygen is the shortage in the number of tankers. Even when we find oxygen, transporting it to Delhi becomes a problem because of this shortage of tankers. The Delhi government has decided to import 18 tankers from Bangkok which will start reaching Delhi starting tomorrow (Wednesday). For this, we have requested the central government to lend us the air force planes. Our interaction with them has been positive thus far and we have received the central government’s support on previous occasions and are hopeful of receiving their support in this as well. These 18 tankers that we receive from Thailand will aid us in the transportation of oxygen and ensure that our allotted amount reaches us.”
The Delhi CM said that the situation has seen improvement this week and the number of SOS messages received from hospitals has reduced due to the hard work and coordination between the Central and State governments who have spent many nights trying to overcome the oxygen shortage.
“The Central government has allotted 5 additional tankers to Delhi. We are thankful for their help. Within the next one month, we will be installing 44 oxygen plants in Delhi. Within this, 8 plants will be installed by the central government. We hope that they will be installed by 30th April. 36 plants are being installed by the Delhi government, of which 21 are being imported from France and the remaining 15 are from within the country. They will be installed within hospitals and help us overcome oxygen shortage,” he added.
Kejriwal said, “Last week, I had written letters and reached out to many CMs and Industrialists in the country, asking for aid. We have received a positive response from many of them. Most of them have only placed one condition in front of us that they wish to remain anonymous. This is an example of their nobility, to give with no ulterior aim of seeking the public’s affection.… It is only with the aid that we are receiving right now that we are being able to transport tankers from Bangkok and oxygen plants from France.”
