300 O2 CYLINDERS ‘MISSING’ IN MOGA

MOGA : Nearly 300 oxygen cylinders owned by different suppliers remain untraced in Moga district with the administration suspecting that these have either been hoarded by private dealers for making profits or by people for personal use in case of coronavirus infection.

Of a total of 450 oxygen cylinders in the district, the administration has been able to collect only 150. The authorities had directed the suppliers to deposit all the cylinders and centralised the supply of oxygen through a single vendor.

Officials said they were also getting oxygen supply from Mandi Gobindgarh-based plants but did not have enough empty cylinders for refilling. They could arrange an extra 0.5 metric tonne (MT) if they get the 300 cylinders, an official said.

As of now, the district is getting 2 MT oxygen against the daily consumption of 2.23 MT at government and private hospitals for Covid and non-covid patients.

Moga SDM Satwant Singh, who has been tasked with monitoring oxygen supply in the district, said, “We have information that private dealers and individuals have hoarded 300 cylinders. While some have hoarded these cylinders for black marketing, others have done so due to panic in wake of scarcity of supplies.”

“We may take legal action against hoarding of cylinders. We just want to save lives in this medical emergency,” said SDM. Deputy commissioner Sandeep Hans said, “The purpose of regulating oxygen supply is to stop hoarding and black marketing and to ensure it reaches patients in need.”