Delhi to import oxygen tankers, plants: Kejriwal

NEW DELHI: Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Tuesday his government will import 18 cryogenic tankers from Thailand and 21 ready-to-use oxygen plants from France, and added that they were setting up 1,200 more intensive care unit (ICU) to provide relief to a health care system that has been stretched beyond its capacity amid a raging fourth wave of Covid-19 infections.

In a digital news briefing on Tuesday, the chief minister said that within a month, 44 oxygen plants will be set up at various hospitals in Delhi, including 21 that will be imported from France. Of these, the Centre will install eight oxygen plants by April 30, he said.

Kejriwal said the situation has improved significantly in the past two days after the chaos witnessed last week due to an oxygen shortage. “We do not have as many SOS calls from hospitals now as we got on three days last week – Thursday, Friday, and Saturday,” he said.

On Tuesday, Delhi recorded 24,149 infections of Covid-19, taking the tally of the city-state to 1,072,065. It also saw 381 deaths, it’s highest single-day toll, with total fatalities now past 15,000.

Due to a shortage of tankers, the Delhi government was facing problems in transporting its oxygen quota decided by the Centre, Kejriwal said. “Hospitals were jam-packed, and I was scared that a major untoward incident may lead to deaths due to lack of oxygen.”

“Once these 18 tankers reach the city, the problem of transporting liquid oxygen will be solved, and Delhi will start getting its full quota of oxygen from the Centre…,” he said, adding that the government is also importing 21 PSA oxygen plants from France to be installed in different hospitals.

A government spokesperson said while Indian Air Force is airlifting these tankers, the Union home ministry is coordinating the transportation.