The Delhi government is also creating a buffer stock for oxygen (File)
The Delhi government has formed a decentralised management system for the distribution of oxygen to hospitals and other institutions in the coronavirus-hit city. The national capital, which has witnessed scores of deaths due to an acute shortage of the life-saving gas in hospitals in the last few weeks, will also ramp up its transport capabilities.
"Delhi Government has now formed a decentralized management system for the distribution of oxygen within the city to various hospitals and institutions. All the DMs (district magistrates) are tracking each and every re-filler and making sure that it reaches the earmarked destination," the government said in a statement.
The city's health department has issued an order to revive the dealer network for oxygen cylinders. All dealers providing industrial gases have been linked to those who re-fill the gas.
For an efficient supply of the gas to the national capital, two Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers have been stationed at an Odisha facility of Tata Steel.
"The government is also creating a buffer stock for oxygen and 505 D-type cylinders have already been distributed to 11 Deputy Commissioners across the city. The Delhi government is also making an appeal through this medium for the donation of cylinders," it added.
The government said it was arranging oxygen from surrounding areas.
"The Delhi government team tracks the movement of each and every tanker for obstacle-free movement. The Delhi Government has got a GPS tracking system on 41 tankers carrying oxygen in the city," it said.
The government has created a dashboard for tracking oxygen shipments. E-commerce giant Amazon has been roped in to track the cargos.
A control room will be created on May 7 to monitor the dashboard to keep an account of the demand and supply of oxygen in the national capital.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal today thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for supplying over 700 tonnes of oxygen for the "first time". He said his government would not let anyone die of oxygen shortage if the centre supplied the quantity daily.