COVID19: Oxygen Supply To Delhi: Supreme Court Hearing- Live-Updates

Justice Chandrachud: When you made the formula, not everyone who went the hospital required an oxygen bed, not everyone required ICU or ventilator. There are many who have been asked to stay at home and put up a home set up.

Justice Chandrachud: What your formula shows for Delhi, it might actually be a gross underestimation of what Delhi requires. We agree that an audit is required. But, this needs to be looked into. We realise that other States also need it.

SG: Let an officer come from DELHI to explain why this situation is arising.

Justice Shah: We will ask questions to Delhi as well.

SG: At the cost of reputation, either there is some lacunae in our supply. If we supply 400, but the plight of people is not getting over.

SG: There can be lacunae in the State’s allocation as well. I am not accusing. It could be the system. The failure could be party State and partly Centre. 

SG: If there is allocation of 700, but it is found to be 400 if distributed well, then I will be answerable to other States.

Justice Chandrachud: The formula that you have used requires complete revamp.

Justice Chandrachud: So now their requirement is also there.

SG: Because of their original intended capacity, what they do is, they store it in cylinders. And the total is for 12 hours. And that’s when they come with the SOS. 

Justice Shah: You may be correct with small hospitals. But, these demands are being made by big hospitals as well, such as Ganga Ram. That’s why panic is being created.

Justice Chandrachud: In Batra Hospital, a doctor lost his life.

Dawra: These are cryogenic tanks installed. This is an ongoing process - a 24 hour cycle. The stocks are depleting fast. The total storage capacity we surveyed - it was full.

Dawra: We also asked what was the average daily consumption. You have raised a point - the storage capacity can it hold a buffer. That’s a critical point. When the tanks are coming to Delhi, they need to have a buffer.

Justice Chandrachud: This great panic which is created of 2 hours or 1 hour or 0.5 hours, it will be allayed if there’s a buffer.

SG: Most of these hospitals are not COVID hospitals. They were doing something else. 

Dawra: The storage capacity is for 56 hospitals. There’s one in Faridabad.

Justice Chandrachud: In the note, hospitals’ capacity is 478.

Dawra: These cover the major hospitals in DELHI.

Justice Chandrachud: Are they utilising the storage capacity ?

SG: This is an ongoing process. This 478 capacity does not remain empty always or full always.

Justice Chandrachud: Is there a buffer stock available ?

Justice Shah: Every hospital has been asking. If buffer stock is there, then this difficulty won’t be there.

Dawra: There is a trend and the numbers are stabilising. The decrease is more than the increase. All the issues as they taken care of, we can see things being done faster. Airports have also been used for intervention.

 Justice Chandrachud: Yesterday you were able to deliver 700 to Delhi. I had one suggestion. You have said storage capacity, now hospital’s storage is 400 MT and total is 665. Today, it must be completely empty ? To what extent it can be availed of ?

Dawra: I will not be in a position to say whether all of them will go to Delhi. This is our plan. It is dynamic, subject to changes. There are two caveats - the entire plan is contingent on sufficient number of containers and allocation.

Dawra: If we see decreasing trend in some States, they can release some of their tankers.

Justice Shah: But in other States they are increasing as well. Look at Karnataka. Decrease is less and increase is more. How will you deal with this ?

Dawra: There is pressure on the containers in the market. They are being allocated by the Committee in a rational manner.

Dawra: Then the cycle begins again, as the issue of the containers is there. SG has already present that Delhi has received 730 MT yesterday. We have repeated the survey this morning at 10AM. Overall 53% of total cryogenic tanks have been filled up. This includes major hospitals.

Dawra: There are certain remarks we have made on availability for containers. If you see Item 1, it says 6 containers are being deployed, making it 18 and later it will be 24. There will further be a requirement from Kalimnagar side. 

Dawra: The Jamnagar plant has ramped up their production. The special 100 tons has already reached Delhi. In conclusion, you can see the table. A part is the existing allocation. 140 will be operationalised from 9th May and from 10, it will become 140.

Additional Secretary Sumita Dawra appears.

Dawra: 490 tons was the previous allocation. We have given the detailed information in the table below. Out of 490, we are receiving from Kashipur because their stocks are finished as at one place they are serving UP, Uttarakhand.

Dawra: Out of 490, 460 are accounted for by ongoing suppliers. We will add more 40 now to account for the shortfall. The special allocation of 100 is made from Ramnagar.