During the second wave of the Coronavirus pandemic, Delhi exaggerated its oxygen requirement which could have adversely affected the oxygen supply of other states, the committee constituted for the Oxygen Audit of Delhi state.
According to the committee, the demand for oxygen placed by the Delhi government between April 25 and May 10 can be up to 4 times more than the actual requirement. On May 8, the Supreme Court had formed a 12-member task force to improve the oxygen distribution system in the country. A separate sub-group was formed for Delhi. It has AIIMS Director Randeep Guleria, Max Healthcare's Sandeep Budhiraja along with 1-1 senior IAS officers from the Center and Delhi
The Petroleum and Oxygen Safety Organization (PESO) has told this committee that Delhi had surplus oxygen. which other states could get. The continuous excess supply to Delhi could have led to a national crisis. According to the calculation done on the basis of bed capacity, Delhi needed only 289 metric tonnes of oxygen. But he stated the requirement of up to 1140 metric tonnes. It was about 4 times more.
The Supreme Court had ordered the Center to supply 700 metric tonnes to Delhi daily. Mehta raised the demand for oxygen audit of Delhi. The report of the committee is yet to be filed in court. The matter is to be heard in the Supreme Court on June 30.
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