Amid the tussle between states over oxygen supply in wake of COVID pandemic, Haryana chief minister Manihar Lal Khattar said the issue has been resolved.
¡°260 MT oxygen production at Panipat in Haryana. 140 MT oxygen allotted to Delhi. Arvind Kejriwal rang me up today and the matter has been resolved,¡± he said.
Earlier, Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said the main reason behind the oxygen shortage crisis in Delhi is the 'jungle raj' by the Haryana and Uttar Pradesh governments. He asked the Central government to intervene in the matter.
Sisodia alleged that despite the Centre's increased oxygen allocation to the national capital, government officials and Police of the two states were not allowing the oxygen supply to leave for Delhi.
"The major reason behind Delhi's Oxygen crisis is 'jungle raj' for Oxygen by Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. Their government officers and police are not letting supply from their Oxygen plants come to Delhi. Our officers spoke to theirs and I tried to speak to the Centre but things are not changing on the ground," Sisodia said.
He further emphasised that this was not the time to fight but to be united.
Some Delhi hospitals tweeted earlier in the day that Haryana authorities are blocking oxygen supply while patients are critical.
The Delhi High Court has directed the Centre to ensure oxygen is supplied to the national capital as per the allocation order and is transported without any hindrance.
The high court said there has to be strict compliance of oxygen allocation order issued by the Centre and non compliance would attract criminal action.
A bench of Justices Vipin Sanghi and Rekha Palli said the Centre's allocation of oxygen for Delhi from plants in other states like Haryana was not being respected by the local administration there and it needs to be resolved immediately.
It directed the central government to provide adequate security to lorries transporting oxygen and to form dedicated corridors for the same.
The directions came after the Delhi government told the court that oxygen that was to come from Panipat in Haryana was not being allowed to be picked up by the local police there.
The Delhi government also told the court that oxygen which was to be picked up from some units in Uttar Pradesh could also be not lifted from there.