Capt sends SOS to Centre for oxygen quota increase

CHANDIGARH: With oxygen supplies in the state depleting fast, chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Sunday sent another SOS, second time in two days, to Union health and family welfare minister Dr Harsh Vardhan for urgent increase in allocation of the quota.

Amarinder also directed chief secretary Vini Mahajan to pursue with the central government for urgent supplies, given the serious situation, with patient load increasing due to influx from Delhi and other states, and pushing up demand for medical oxygen. The chief secretary was asked to rush urgent supplies to Amritsar, where precious lives were lost on Saturday due to shortage of oxygen.

The CM sought four-hourly reports from principal secretary, industries, on the state’s hospital-wise demand-supply situation of oxygen. The CM’s letter to the Union health minister followed the Centre’s failure to increase the allocation to Punjab as per the new allocation of liquid medical oxygen (LMO) issued on Saturday, despite his plea for enhancement to at least 250 MT of LMO per day. Amarinder had on Saturday requested for an increase Punjab’s liquid oxygen quota to 250 MT daily.

“The situation is grim as our supply of LMO has not been able to meet the increased demand,” he wrote on Sunday. He said that despite his request for allocation of 250 MT of LMO per day to Punjab from outside the state, the new allocation of LMO issued on April 24 did not increase the quota to Punjab,” the CM said. .