Do we shut our eyes to people dying: Delhi HC to Centre on oxygen crisis

The Delhi High Court directed the Centre to supply 490 metric tonne of allocated oxygen to the national capital on Saturday (May 1) itself, or face contempt.

The Delhi High Court asked the Centre to arrange oxygen “by any means” for the hospitals by today (May 1) itself. “Water has gone above the head. You have to arrange everything now. You have made the allocations. You have to fulfil it,” it said, according an NDTV report.

The court took note of 8 deaths in Batra Hospital due to lack of oxygen supply and told the government enough is enough. “Do you mean we will shut our eyes to the people dying in Delhi,” it asked the Centre. “We mean business. Water has gone above the head,” the court said and declined to defer its order.

The court said the government had made an allocation of oxygen to Delhi and should fulfill it.

Dr Sudhanshu Bankata, executive director of the hospital, told the court that 8 patients, including a senior consultants Dr RK Himthani, (the hospital’s head of the gastroenterology department), had died due to lack of oxygen.

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“And, it’s not going to stop at eight. Once the patient’s condition deteriorates then you cannot salvage that patient. There is a ripple effect, there would be many who must have destabilised by now and the number of deaths will certainly go up,” Dr Sudhanshu Bankata said, according to a report in Hindustan Times.

The hospital has currently received 1,000 litres of oxygen from the Delhi government’s SOS tanker, “which is only going to last for another 1.5 hours,” said Dr Bankata.

Delhi Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal expressed regret at the the news of deaths.

“These lives could have been saved by giving oxygen on time,” he said in a tweet, reiterating his government’s demand for medical oxygen. “Delhi should get its quota of oxygen. We can’t see our people dying like this any more. Delhi needs 976 MT of oxygen and yesterday received only 312 MT. How will Delhi breathe with inadequate oxygen”.