Karnataka govt names retd HC judge to probe Chamarajnagar tragedy that killed 24 patients

Two days after 24 people lost their lives in a district hospital at Chamarajnagar owing to oxygen shortage, the Karnataka government appointed retired Karnataka HC judge Justice BA Patil as a one-man commission to probe the events leading to the death of the patients. The incident, which occurred between 12 am to 2 am, left 24 patients dead while visuals of the family members and the healthcare workers struggling to save the lives of the patients, who are evidently gasping for breath, with their attendees fanning air onto their faces. Issuing the order appointing retired judge BA Patil to head the inquiry committee, the state government ordered all the Officers to hand over all requisite documents and material evidence to the Commissioner, Health & Family Welfare Department for onward submission to the Enquiry Commission. 

CM Yediyurappa orders inquiry into Chamarajnagar tragedy

CM Yediyurappa expressed grief over the death of 24 people within two hours at Karnataka's Chamarajanagar district hospital due to an Oxygen shortage. The BJP leader offered condolences to the kin of the deceased and assured them of the government's support. Further, he spoke to the Chamarajanagar district collector over the incident and also had called for an emergency Cabinet meeting on Tuesday. 

However, the Leader of Opposition and former CM Siddaramaiah, who visited Chamarajanagar district hospital on Tuesday, claimed that 28 and not 23 people had died in the hospital from Sunday morning to Monday morning. He alleged the incident reflected badly on the governance and demanded the resignation of health minister Dr K Sudhakar for the poor handling of the COVID-19 situation. Taking a serious view of the oxygen shortage, Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa on Tuesday had assigned the Large and Medium Scale Industries Minister Jagadish Shettar to arrange oxygen supply and coordinate with the Centre to get the state's quota of oxygen.

The oxygen crisis deepened in certain parts of Karnataka on Tuesday, with the deaths of seven COVID patients in Kalaburagi and Belagavi allegedly due to oxygen shortage. According to sources, four people died in the morning in Kalaburagi government hospital and three in Belagavi government hospital allegedly due to shortage of life-saving gas. However, Mining and Geology Minister Murugesh Nirani, who is in charge of the Kalaburagi district, dismissed the allegation saying that those who died had COVID infection at an advanced stage.

Karnataka's COVID situation

Karnataka on Tuesday reported 44,631 new COVID-19 cases and 292 deaths, taking the caseload and fatalities to 16,90,934 and 16,538 respectively, the health department said. According to the health bulletin, the state has 4,64,363 active cases whereas 12,10,013 people have been discharged so far including 24,714 people on Tuesday. Bengaluru urban district, which is the main contributor of daily spike in cases, now has 3,01,712 active cases. The city reported 20,870 infections and 132 deaths on Tuesday. Cumulatively, Bengaluru has 8,40,274 cases and 6,845 deaths.