The Army’s Base Hospital in Delhi Cantonment is running low on oxygen after the Delhi government drastically reduced the allocation, Army sources said on Tuesday.
“Allocation for Base Hospital is done through Delhi government. The situation has arisen after Delhi government cut down the allocation by almost one third. The issue has been taken up with the concerned authorities through the Defence Ministry,” a source said.
Late in the evening, Raghav Chadha, national spokesperson of the Aam Aadmi Party, said on Twitter that oxygen cylinders were sent to Base Hospital.
To avoid any crisis situation, the Army had scrambled to get resources. A vehicle with 100 empty oxygen cylinders had left for Haridwar, the source said adding, some cylinders have also been procured from Palwal. The Army will resolve the situation but the issue is about the sudden reduction in the quota allocated, the official added.
Mr. Chadha said that Base Hospital was serviced by Liquid Medical Oxygen (LMO) as well as cylinders. While their LMO supply is continuing unabated, there were difficulties with respect to oxygen cylinders. “Dispatched 110 cylinders totalling 1MT of oxygen,” he said.
With the surge in COVID cases in the second wave, Base Hospital has been converted into an exclusive COVID care facility for the armed forces and veterans. To meet the demand for beds, a plan has also been put in place to augment the capacity to 900 oxygen beds by the second week of June 2021.
