Yogi Adityanath slams AAP govt over oxygen obstruction charge; hits back amid COVID crisis

UP CM Yogi Adityanath on Friday lashed out at the Delhi government for levelling allegations against his government pertaining to oxygen supply. Both Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal and Deputy CM Manish Sisodia have accused the Haryana and UP governments of obstructing the supply of oxygen to hospitals in the national capital. According to Adityanath, this was an attempt by AAP to deflect attention from its own failures in tackling the COVID-19 crisis. Strongly condemning the charge, he claimed that Kejriwal had violated the "secrecy" of the high-level meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for "cheap publicity". 

Speaking at the meeting of the CMs earlier in the day, the Delhi CM requested PM Modi, "You have supported me every time and we have always followed the orders as well, this time we appeal you to take some strict action or else major tragedy might happen in Delhi. My phone keeps ringing and doctors give me update about oxygen. Delhi gets oxygen from a very few states, I request you to call the Chief Ministers of those states and ask them not to disturb the transportation. Your one phone call is enough." 

Centre steps in stem oxygen shortage crisis

The oxygen shortage crisis came to the fore after many Delhi hospitals issued frantic appeals regarding the shortage of oxygen to treat COVID-19 patients. Moreover, several hospitals sought relief from the Delhi HC in this regard. Speaking exclusively to Republic TV's Political Editor Aishwarya Kapoor on Wednesday, Delhi Deputy CM Manish Sisodia urged the Centre to increase Delhi's oxygen quota to 500 MT. Soon after, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal revealed that the Centre had finally increased the national capital's oxygen quota.  

In another development, the Ministry of Home Affairs directed all states to ensure that no restriction is imposed on the movement of medical oxygen between states amid reports of shortage. Moreover, it mandated that no oxygen manufacturer and supplier shall be compelled to limit the oxygen supplies to only the hospitals of the state in which they are located. On Thursday, the PM chaired a high-level meeting to take stock of the O2 supply across India and boost its availability. The PM stressed the need to work on increasing the production of oxygen, increasing the speed of distribution and using innovative ways to provide oxygen support to health facilities on this occasion.

Directing the officials to ensure oxygen supply to various states in an unhindered manner, he stated that the responsibility should be fixed on the local administration in cases of obstruction. Subsequently, he also interacted with the Chief Ministers of 11 states and Union Territories worst affected by the COVID-19 crisis. During his virtual meeting with leading oxygen manufacturers in India, he called for increasing the availability of oxygen cylinders as well as upgrading the logistics facilities for O2 transportation.