Importing oxygen utilizing…private intervention of political govt: Centre to Gujarat High Court

THE CENTRAL authorities in an affidavit filed earlier than the Gujarat High Court Monday, in response to a suo motu PIL that the court docket is listening to on Covid-19, has submitted that not solely is it augmenting oxygen provide inside India, but additionally “importing oxygen from other countries using not only the diplomatic channels but also personal intervention of the political executive.”
Against a requirement of 8,462 metric tonnes (MT) of oxygen calculated on foundation of lively instances, an allocation of 8,410 MT has been made for 22 high-burden states, the affidavit states.
Calculations primarily based on knowledge offered in paperwork annexed to the affidavit filed by Additional Solicitor General Devang Vyas, recommend a minimum of seven of the high-demand states have been provisioned with solely 60 per cent and even much less as each day allocation of oxygen vis-a-vis the demand projected for May 5 as per the central government-appointed Empowered Groups (EG). The states embody Kerala, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Tamil Nadu, Bihar, Jharkhand and Jammu and Kashmir. Kerala has been provisioned solely 22 per cent of its projected demand as each day allocation as per the April 30 provide plan.

A knowledge desk within the affidavit suggests six states and Union Territories have lifted extra oxygen on April 26 than what was allotted. These embody Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Rajasthan, West Bengal, and Jammu and Kashmir. Punjab, in truth, noticed a lowered allocation from April 28 onwards regardless of lifting greater than its allotted quantity of 177 MT on that day.

The Centre, in its affidavit, additionally submitted that whereas oxygen demand is a “dynamic figure”, it’s revised as per requirement and accessible provides to match states’ demand and sourcing of oxygen to the “maximum extent possible”.
Referring to the methodology the Centre makes use of to reach at projected demand of oxygen by states, the affidavit states an ‘Empowered Group-I’, comprising Niti Aayog’s Dr V K Paul, AIIMS Director Dr Randeep Guleria, and Director basic of ICMR Dr Balram Bhargava, “on the basis of their Covid management experience and examination of the facts and reports received from the various state hospitals and medical institutes of the country categorised Covid-19 patients in three broad classes where it was determined that 80 per cent patients are “mild cases” and don’t require oxygen. Three per cent of instances are extreme ICU instances, which require “approximately 24L/min of oxygen”, and one other 8.5 per cent instances might require oxygen on the fee of 10L/min.

Based on these estimates, the oxygen necessities of various states, on the premise of their lively instances, is being calculated, “which in the estimates of the central government at present is around 8,462 MT”.