Mishap, quarrel delay oxygen supply to Palamu

Daltonganj: The supply of oxygen cylinders to Palamu from Ranchi was disrupted amid the Covid-19 crisis after two freak incidents, district administration sources said on Sunday.
In the first incident, a pick-up van with a load of 89 empty cylinders and heading towards Ranchi from Daltonganj on Saturday night for refilling turned upside down after hitting a tree near Lahlahey on NH-75, Satbarwa police station officer-in-charge Karam Pal Naag said.
Naag said, “The pick-up van rammed the tree around 11.30 pm. Police immediately rushed to the site and retrieved the injured driver of the van. He was rushed to Medinirai Medical College Hospital in Daltonganj. We then collect the scattered empty cylinders which to prevent it from getting stolen.”
Amit Prakash, the nodal officer for the supply of oxygen cylinders in Palamu, said 89 cylinders were loaded in another van on Sunday morning and sent to Ranchi. “The mishap has delayed the oxygen supply by almost a day,” he said.
In another incident, the driver of another van carrying 74 empty cylinders returned to Daltonganj empty from Ranchi without refilling.
Prakash said, “In Ranchi, the driver reportedly got into a quarrel with the refilling personnel and after spending the whole day there on Saturday returned to Daltonganj this morning with the empty cylinders.”
The nodal officer added the vans and their drivers belonged to the medical oxygen cylinders supplier of the district.