No patient has died because of oxygen shortage, the Maharashtra government told the Aurangabad Bench of the Bombay High Court on May 19.
A Division Bench of Justices Ravindra Ghuge and B.U. Debadwar said COVID-19 patients are coming to hospitals in a critical condition and the demand for oxygen has grown multiple times.
Advocate Rahul Chitnis, appearing for the State, said, “No patient in the State has died only for the non-supply of oxygen.”
The court said it would hold nodal officers responsible if they failed to supply oxygen. If such a situation arose, nodal officers would be held liable for action, the court remarked.
The court directed the Centre in collaboration with the State to prepare a buffer stock of oxygen. The location of emergency stock should be decentralised so that it is made available immediately, the court suggested.
Other than COVID-19 patents, there are cancer patients and those with heart, liver, kidney ailments who may need oxygen and they too should be provided for, the court noted.
The Bench has been continuously hearing a bunch of suo motu public interest litigations on the shortage of medicines, oxygen, ventilators and beds due to the ongoing pandemic.
The court said that it had come to its notice that ventilators from some suppliers were of inferior quality. It asked the State to apprise the court on how many ventilators have been received.
The court appreciated the work done by authorities on the efforts to publicise the helpline numbers for ambulances and the arrangements made for the vehicles to reach rural areas so that the poorest of poor are attended to.
In the last hearing, the Bench had ordered that no politician, Minister or people’s representative should hold public functions till the lockdown restrictions are eased.