Now, driver shortage hits oxygen transport
At a time when Maharashtra is facing shortage of beds, oxygen, Remdesivir and vaccine doses, the state government is also confronted with a scarcity of drivers to drive the oxygen tankers. The government is struggling to mobilize drivers but could not do so as a large number of them have already left for their home states in the wake of rising Covid-19 cases and also following the imposition of Janata Curfew in the state till May 1. The drivers are needed for the transportation of oxygen from Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka and Chhattisgarh and also after the oxygen express organized by the Railways till
Kalamboli in Navi Mumbai.
However, in order to tackle the situation, the Transport Minister Anil Parab said that the drivers of Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) will be deployed for the transportation of oxygen in specified tankers and the government will create a green corridor for their movement. “There is a rising demand for oxygen and it will be supplied through tankers without traffic from the green corridor,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Shiv Sena, which is heading the Maha Vikas Aghadi government in the state, on Monday slammed BJP leaders Devendra Fadnavis and Pravin Darekar for objecting to Mumbai police's grilling of a pharma firm's top executive over alleged stocking of Remdesivir vials, and wondered if there was a conspiracy to disturb the law and health order.
An editorial in the Sena mouthpiece 'Saamana' accused the BJP of having a clear agenda that the Maharashtra government should fail in handling the Covid-19 situation, and charged it with making persistent efforts in that direction with the help of the Centre.