At least 40 patients have died in Delhi alone in recent days due to a lack of oxygen.
At least three Oxygen Express trains have arrived today in the National Capital Territory with the vital gas, bringing relief for COVID-19 patients gasping for breath across hospitals, Union Railway Minister Piyush Goyal has said. The trains arrived a day after the Delhi High Court expressed its fury over the Central government's failure to implement its order of ensuring that the city gets it quota of oxygen.
"#OxygenExpress has reached Delhi Cantt from Hapa, Gujarat via Green Corridor to provide continued supply of Oxygen for COVID-19 patients in the capital," Mr Goyal tweeted this morning.
He also tweeted about another such train arriving from Mundhra, Gujarat.
In a third tweet, he posted the video of an Oxygen Express arriving from Tatanagar, Jamshedpur.
One such train, this time from Angul, Odisha, arrived last evening with a little over 30 tonnes of oxygen. The Oxygen Express trains have been rolled out across the country to ensure emergency supplies of the vital gas amid a major resources crunch that followed the deadly second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Such is the situation that scores of patients have died -- at least 40 in Delhi alone -- in recent days due to hospitals' inability to provide timely oxygen.
The Delhi High Court on Saturday ordered the Centre to ensure that the national capital received its quota of oxygen by tonight.
"Enough is enough. We will not take a 'no' regarding oxygen supply. There is no way that you will not supply 700 metric tonne oxygen immediately. We will not hear anything except compliance," the court said yesterday.
"You can bury your head in sand like ostrich, we won't... Are you living in an ivory tower?" the judges said, pointing out that the Supreme Court had also ordered the Centre to provide 700 metric tonne of oxygen to Delhi and not just 490 metric tonne.