HC ultimatum on Delhi O2 crisis: ‘Lives at stake’
NEW DELHI: The Delhi high court on Tuesday put the Union government on notice for contempt of court after taking a strong view of the continuing oxygen crisis in the Capital, which was seeking at least 700 metric tonne (MT) in a day but has been making do with far lower quantities that, coupled with the Delhi government’s inability to transport oxygen, has pushed hospitals to the brink of a catastrophe.
The city was set to receive at least 550 MT of supplies by the end of Wednesday, including two deliveries through “oxygen express” trains – one of these arrived in the morning with 205 MT and another was expected with 244 MT later in the day.
But these quantities were still lower than the 700 MT projected demand, which the Supreme Court said must be met when it issued final orders on Sunday.
On Wednesday, the high court pulled up the Union government for the continuing deficit. “We are not going to take no for an answer. There is no way that you won’t supply 700 right away. We won’t hear anything except compliance,” the judges, justices Vipin Sanghi and Rekha Palli, told the Centre’s lawyer, additional solicitor general Chetan Sharma. In its order, the bench issued a show-cause notice for why contempt proceedings shouldn’t be initiated against the Union government and sought the presence of Piyush Goyal, additional secretary, ministry of home affairs, and Sumita Dawra, additional secretary, to be present during the next hearing on Wednesday.
“Enough is enough. We mean business and give it by whatever means. ….We had said that contempt action against the officers will be the last thing on our mind. But that does not mean we cannot do it. That option still remains. Your officers will face the notice. We are not going to take this.”
The most amount of medical oxygen Delhi has received in a day was on Saturday after the high court first warned of contempt proceedings. From 454 MT that day, the number marginally dipped over the next two days, leaving smaller hospitals that rely on more ad-hoc arrangements struggling for supplies. “On May 3 we received 433 MT oxygen against a demand of 976 MT oxygen – which is roughly 44% of the total demand. Over the past one week, Delhi received around 393 MT oxygen per day on an average – which is around 40% of the total demand,” said Delhi MLA Raghav Chadha said.