The AAP Government in Delhi led by Arvind Kejriwal today said that Delhi is getting an excess supply of oxygen and has offered the Central Government to give the surplus oxygen to the states who need it. The offer has come within days of the Supreme Court setting up a panel to carry out an audit of oxygen supply, distribution and utilisation in the national capital.
Delhi’s Deputy CM Manish Sisodia today said that Delhi’s oxygen need as of May 13 is 582 MT per day. He said that the Delhi government has written to the Centre, saying the surplus oxygen that is being given to it can be supplied to other states. Earlier he claimed that Delhi had a requirement of 700 MT of oxygen when the number of cases was rising but now that the figure is showing a declining trend, the requirement has come down to 582 MT.
On April 18, 2021, the Kejriwal government had demanded 700 MT of oxygen when there were 74,941 cases but today his government claimed that oxygen requirement has reduced to 582 MT, when active cases in Delhi stands at 82,725.
It is to be noted that CM Kejriwal had earlier said that Delhi needs a daily supply of at least 976 MT of oxygen to emerge out of the crisis. He said Delhi is facing acute shortage of oxygen. In view of sharply increasing cases, Delhi needs much more than normal supply. Rather than increasing supply, our normal supply has been sharply reduced & Delhi’s quota has been diverted to other states: CM Arvind Kejriwal.
The AAP Government has been blaming the central government for not providing them 976 MT of oxygen. But as Delhi was supplied with 730 MT of oxygen, following court orders, the CM started saying that they have enough oxygen to open thousands of new oxygen beds. Soon after the Centre proposed to carry out an audit, Delhi’s Oxygen demand had gone down from 976 MT to 730 MT, which now has further gone down to 582 MT per day.
Amid oxygen war in the National Capital AAP MLA Imran Hussain has come under the scanner over allegations of hoarding oxygen from the allotted quota to Delhi for making personal profits. Notably, he is the same Delhi cabinet minister who was caught last year flouting COVID-19 protocols and defying lockdown.
