While the Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal has been saying for the last two days that Delhi is facing an acute shortage of oxygen, it has been revealed that the supply of the vital gas has been disrupted by the ongoing farmer protests in and around Delhi, which is being supported by the AAP govt.
On Monday night, the Delhi police had created a green corridor to enable fast transport of oxygen to Sri Action Balaji Hospital in the city, where the oxygen levels had reached a critical point. A dedicated corridor was created by the police for two oxygen tankers carrying 19,500 litres of liquid oxygen from the UP and Haryana borders. While the police had said that the tankers were stuck at the two borders due to ‘traffic jam’, a letter written by the supplier of the oxygen has now revealed the real reason: the tankers were stuck at the farmer protest sites at the border points.
According to a letter sent by Inox Air Products, a supplier of oxygen, to the central govt, they are facing blockages while transporting oxygen from their plants in Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh to Delhi due to the highway blockades enforced by the protestors. They mentioned the incident yesterday, when the Sri Balaji Action Medical Institute in Paschim Vihar had almost run out of oxygen. According to the company, this happened as the delay of liquid medical oxygen to the hospital was delayed by 2 hours due to the blockade of NH24 on the Delhi-UP border at Ghazipur by the farmers. According to the company, their vehicles are having to travel an additional distance of 100 kms from their unit in Modinagar, Uttar Pradesh to reach hospitals in Delhi.
The letter by Inox Air Products Pvt Ltd further added that its oxygen supply from IOC facilities is also hampered due to the farmer protests. The company has been asked by the union govt to lift liquid oxygen from Indian Oil Corporation’s Panipat unit, but while transporting oxygen from there to Delhi, they are facing delays due to the blockage at the Singhu border.
Due to this situation, the company requested the union govt to extend support for making green corridors for the movement of tankers and trucks carrying oxygen.