For the second time in two days, Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday, highlighting a possible shortage in oxygen supply to the province, which is among those hardest hit by the second wave of coronavirus infections.
Ms. Banerjee, who was sworn in as Chief Minister for the third time on Wednesday, highlighted the state’s rising use of oxygen and urged the central government to allot more; she said demand had already risen to 470 metric tonnes per day and was forecast to increase to 550 MT.
“… due to an uptick in Covid positive events, the intake of medical oxygen is increasingly increasing. It has increased to 470 MT per day in the last 24 hours and is forecast to reach 550 MT in the next seven to eight days “She put pen to paper.
Ms. Banerjee claimed that the Bengal Chief Secretary had already brought this issue to the attention of senior central government officials, including the Union Health Secretary.
“However, rather than allocating the same… the Government of India has raised the allocation to other states from the total output in West Bengal over the last 10 days, from 230 MT to 306 MT… while keeping the allocation for West Bengal steady at 308 MT,” the Chief Minister said.
Bengal extracts approximately 560 MT of medical oxygen, of which it actually consumes only 470 MT.
However, if more incidents are reported, this is likely to increase significantly, and Ms. Banerjee said that “anything less than 550 MT a day would adversely affect the situation… and may result in the loss of lives.”
A catastrophic surge in Covid cases has sparked the oxygen crisis; this morning, over four lakh cases were recorded from across the world, with more than 18,000 from Bengal.
Covid cases have increased in the state since the conclusion of the eight-phase election last week. According to experts, the surge in cases may be due to election campaigning.
Thousands of people broke social distancing and face mask laws to attend rallies and roadshows attended by Prime Minister Modi and Chief Minister Banerjee.
There are reportedly over 1.2 lakh active Covid cases in Bengal. The state has imposed stringent controls, including requiring all tourists to present a Covid-negative survey.
Bengal isn’t the only state experiencing oxygen shortages. Earlier today, the Supreme Court ruled against the government in a case involving a Karnataka High Court order requiring it to expand the availability of medical oxygen.
