New Delhi [India], June 26 (HornbillTv): A day after the Supreme Court panel's report that the Delhi govt overstated its demand for medical oxygen during COVID'S second wave by four times, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on saturday hit back at centre to ensure no one suffers from oxygen shortage in the third wave.
“If your fight over oxygen is over, can we get back to work? Let’s make such a system together that there is no oxygen shortage in the third wave. In the second wave, people suffered a severe shortage of oxygen. Now, this should not happen in the third wave. If we fight amongst ourselves, then Corona will win. If we fight together, the country will win,” tweeted Kejriwal in Hindi.
“My crime – I fought for the breath of my two crore people. When you were doing an election rally, I was awake all night arranging for oxygen. I fought, pleaded to get oxygen for people. People have lost their loved ones due to a lack of oxygen. Don’t call them liars; they are feeling so bad,” he further said in a tweet in Hindi.
Responding to the accusations, Kejriwal’s deputy Manish Sisodia claimed that the committee members had approved no such report.
Calling the audit panel report “bogus” and “misleading”, Sisodia alleged it was “cooked up” at BJP’s office and submitted by the Centre in the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court's Oxygen audit team in it's report said, "The Delhi government exaggerated the oxygen requirement for the city by more than four times during the April 25-May 10 period, at the peak of the second COVID wave," the report said, adding that supply of excess oxygen to Delhi could have triggered a crisis in its supply to 12 states with the high caseload. "There was a gross discrepancy (about four times) in the actual oxygen consumption claimed by the Delhi government (1,140MT) as it was about four times higher than the calculated consumption as per the formula based on bed capacity (289 MT)," the report further added. The average consumption of oxygen in Delhi was between 284 to 372 MT, said the report, and added that "the excess supply of oxygen affected other states in need of oxygen".
The panel led by AIIMS Director Dr. Randeep Guleria, included Delhi Govt Principal Home Secretary Bhupinder Bhalla, Max Healthcare Director Dr Sandeep Buddhiraja and Union Jal Shakti Ministry Joint Secretary Subodh Yadav.