Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday said that the Delhi government has decided to import 21 ready-to-use oxygen plants from France and 18 oxygen tankers from Bangkok to ensure a steady supply of oxygen in hospitals across the national capital.

He thanked the Central government for allotting 5 additional oxygen tankers to Delhi and said that within the next one month, the Delhi government will be installing 44 oxygen plants in Delhi, out of which 8 plants will be installed by the Central government.

The current wave is extremely dangerous and contagious and the hospitals are overloaded, to combat the load, 1200 beds will be added in Delhi by May 10 and Ramleela Maidan is also being converted into an ICU bed centre, he added.

CM Arvind Kejriwal said that the situation has seen improvement this week and the number of SOS messages received from hospitals has reduced due to the hard work and coordination between the Central and State governments who have spent many nights trying to overcome the oxygen shortage. He also said that many industrialists have given a positive response to his call for help but on the condition of anonymity.

Addressing a press conference today, Kejriwal said, “We are trying our level best to increase the amount of oxygen available in Delhi. It has been noted that the oxygen allotted to us by the central government is also not reaching us in its entirety. A major issue facing us today in the supply of oxygen is the shortage in the number of tankers. Even when we find oxygen, transporting it to Delhi becomes a problem because of this shortage of tankers.

“The Delhi government has decided to import 18 tankers from Bangkok which will start reaching Delhi starting tomorrow. For this, we have requested the central government to lend us the air force planes. Our interaction with them has been positive thus far and we have received the central government’s support on previous occasions and are hopeful of receiving their support in this as well.

These 18 tankers that we receive from Thailand will aid us in the transportation of oxygen and ensure that our allotted amount reaches us. Additionally, we are importing 21 ready-to-use oxygen plants from France. These will be installed in different hospitals in Delhi ensuring a steady supply of oxygen at least in those hospitals.”

He said, “The central government arranged for 500 ICU beds at DRDO and within three hours of us making an official public announcement of their availability, all 500 were full. This is the nature of the second wave. Today, I visited the Ramleela Maidan in front of GTB hospital, we are trying to convert that into an ICU bed centre with a capacity of 500 beds. The main Ramleela Maidan in front of LNJP hospital is also being converted into an ICU bed centre with a capacity of 500 beds, 200 ICU beds are being readied at Radha Soami Satsang Beas.

“These 1200 ICU beds will be ready by 10 May, I believe they will relieve the load from the hospitals and aid the people of Delhi. We are continuously working towards increasing the health capacities of the state and ensuring help reaches the person who needs it. We are working hand in hand with everyone – the central government, state governments, industrialists, social and religious organizations, and more. I believe that by working together we will be able to defeat this second wave as well.”