The Delhi High Court on Tuesday ordered the central government to reduce industrial oxygen usage and supply it to hospitals in the city that handle Covid-19 patients. It stated that the government order banning the use of oxygen in the industry should be implemented immediately.
“The need for oxygen is now,” the high court stated. Any delay in this respect would result in the death of a valuable life. As a result, we order the central government to immediately enact decisions prohibiting factories from using oxygen. We don’t see why the order should go into effect on April 22nd.”
The central government stated in its affidavit to the high court that its order prohibiting the use of oxygen in industrial settings would take effect on April 22. The counsels appearing for the Delhi government said the city hospitals were running out of oxygen supply with doctors saying that they needed the medical oxygen now.
The high court bench of Justices Vipin Sanghi and Rekha Palli challenged the exception granted to those sectors in the government order. “We find that steel and petrochemical sectors are also listed in the exempted industries,” the bench said, surprised.
“We urge the central government to strongly consider issuing effective orders in respect of the steel and petrochemical industries so that a delicate balance can be struck between the needs of the general public who are suffering from Covid-19 and the needs of the industry,” the bench said.
After all, if an increasing number of people contract Covid-19, resulting in prolonged lockdowns and closures, the purpose of steel and petroleum product production will be useless
The high court ordered the government to look at ways to redirect “a good portion of the oxygen used by these factories to the medical sector for a time necessary to tide over the current situation.”
This follows the central government’s warning that diverting oxygen could result in a law-and-order situation.
The Centre’s lawyer, Additional Solicitor General Chetan Sharma, told the high court that the Delhi government’s demand for oxygen has unexpectedly risen by 133%. According to the lawyer, there was no shortage of oxygen in Delhi, despite the fact that the demand had been increased earlier. The allocation for Delhi, according to the Centre, is 378 tonnes of oxygen per day.
