File photo of family members of the Covid-19 patients who lost their lives owing to a lack of oxygen, grieve outside the Chamarajanagar District Hospital. (File photo| Udayashankar S, EPS)
MYSURU: The one-man commission, headed by Justice B A Patil, to probe the oxygen tragedy in Chamarajanagar district hospital that killed 24 Covid patients, has opened its camp office in Mysuru. Even after four days of opening the office at Jaladarshini guest house, no one has deposed before it due to the lockdown and ban on inter-district travel.
The commission had issued a statement that the camp office will function from June 5 and had appealed to victims and those connected with the tragedy to depose before it and present their case. According to officials, so far only telephonic inquiries have been conducted. Submissions can be made during office hours for 15 days starting from Tuesday.
But the move has not gone down well with the kin of the deceased as many are economically weak and do not have resources to reach the camp office in Mysuru. “How can I take my sister and her children to the Mysuru camp office when it is difficult to even manage two square meals?” asked Nallaraja Nayaka, brother of Jothi. He said Jothi is yet to recover from the death of her husband Siddanayaka in Bilasavadi.
Mahesh, a relative of Siddarajamma, another victim, said, “With two small kids and aged in-laws, Siddarajamma has taken up a labourer’s job after her husband died in the tragedy. She is also knocking on the doors of elected representatives and others, appealing to them to consider non-Covid patients who died due to lack of oxygen for relief. Why should they discriminate in death, when the cause is the same, the lack of oxygen?” he asked.Meanwhile, KPCC working president R Druvanarayana has urged the government to shift the camp office to Chamarajanagar.
