The Indian Supreme Court ruled on Friday that the central government must supply 700 tons of medical oxygen to Delhi every day until further orders, as top hospitals of the country’s capital continue to struggle to tackle the unprecedented surge in Covid infections.
"When we say 700 tons, it means (the amount of medical oxygen to be supplied) every day to Delhi. Please do not drive us to a situation to take coercive steps... We are clarifying that it will be 700 tons every day," said the top court in a sharp remark, reports NDTV.
The top court has addressed the shortage of medical oxygen, which has emerged as a crucial problem in India's battle against a deadly second Covid wave, for the third day in a row.
The Delhi government's counsel, Rahul Mehra, told the court on Friday that the city had received 527 tons of oxygen by midnight and 89 tons by 9am on Friday, with another 16 tons on the way.
"Yesterday (Thursday) we noticed a lot of caveats on tankers. We are not going into this... we are not drivers," Justice Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud told the centre on Friday morning.
The Supreme Court announced that it has formed an expert panel to conduct an oxygen audit to determine the need for oxygen in each state.
On Thursday, the Supreme Court had made it very clear: "You will have to give 700 tons to Delhi."
"If nothing is to be hidden, let it come before the nation how allocation and distribution is done transparently by the centre," said the court, adding that the centre continues to be in contempt for not supplying 700 tons of oxygen to Delhi.
Even as the Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal government claimed in the Supreme Court on Thursday that the city was only getting half of the oxygen it was supposed to provide, the minister thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the supplies later that evening.
"Yesterday (on Wednesday), the centre for the first time sent us 730 tons of medical oxygen. I thank the central government, Delhi High Court, Supreme Court. We will be able to save many lives," he said in a televised press briefing.
"But, till we fight this spike in infections, we need over 700 tons of oxygen every day," he added.
Many hospitals in the Delhi city have posted distress messages on social media in the last two weeks, requesting immediate assistance.
Last week, 12 people died at Delhi's Batra Hospital, including a doctor, after the facility ran out of oxygen.
A week before, 25 people died at the Jaipur Golden Hospital in the city due to a lack of oxygen pressure. However, the hospital later stated that an independent committee investigating the incident was unable to determine the cause of death of 21 of those patients.