Take help of IIT, DTU to ready plan for O2 supply: HC to govt

New Delhi: Delhi High Court on Wednesday directed the Delhi government to consider taking the help of Indian Institute of Technology Delhi and Delhi Technical University to prepare a blueprint for the supply and distribution infrastructure of liquid medical oxygen and oxygen cylinders to the national capital.
“The estimations should be prepared on the basis of the plans that are worked out by the consultants/experts in consultation with other wings of the GNCTD, such as DGHS and the various hospitals and nursing homes,” said justices Vipin Sanghi and Rekha Palli.
The court also warned against raising false SOSs for oxygen supply after a patient’s lawyer informed that the hospital he was admitted in had run out of oxygen. When the high court inquired with the Delhi government’s counsel, senior advocate Rahul Mehra and advocate Satyakam, they asked the officer concerned to join the proceedings.
“We called upon the GNCTD to explain the position. Mr Bidhuri, OSD oxygen, joined the proceedings. He informs that he has spoken to the management just about two hours ago and he has been informed that there is no dearth of oxygen. There are 38 ‘D’ type cylinders that have been supplied to the hospital,” the bench noted.
The bench accordingly dismissed the petition.
“Such alarms, which are false, disturb the complete system and put unnecessary strain on the already stretched machinery...such an alarm should not be raised till supply is left with hospitals/nursing homes for six hours or less.”
Amicus curiae senior advocate Rajshekhar Rao earlier in the hearing expressed concern over the manner in which the distribution of large amounts of foreign aid had been made in the form of medical equipment related to Covid-19 management. He pointed out one such instance where a city hospital had been provided with 260 oxygen concentrator machines when it had 45 ICU beds and 265 non-ICU oxygenated beds.
Rao stated that the oxygen concentrators were of no avail when they came to the ICUs and the non-ICU beds could be looked after with the existing oxygen supply at the hospital.
“His fear is that such random and arbitrary distribution of medical equipment may not result in the same being sent to the right quarter for the benefit of the patients. We direct the central government to look into the instance pointed out by the amicus and also to look at the allocations made till now to various hospitals and other institutions,” the court stated.
Additional solicitor general Chetan Sharma had received instructions over the requisition of the Armed Forces under the relevant rule of the Defence Service Regulations for the Army and similar regulations of the Air Force and Navy.
The court observed, “He states that in view of the services already being rendered for battling the Covid-19 pandemic both for the armed forces and for the civilian population, principally it has been decided not to set up field hospitals and bring in the Army for aid of civil administration.”
The bench further noted that with regard to the arrangement of the engineering wing of the Armed Forces such as Army Service Corps, and Corps of Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, for setting up on war footing storage tanks of liquid medical oxygen. Sharma said the same would be considered on an urgent basis.
The Centre and the Delhi government, in the meantime, were jointly directed to locate the vendors for provision of oxygen storage capacities and for other logistical support.