Now consider this: After a steep rise in Covid deaths (due to lack of oxygen support), CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan-led MP government decided to establish oxygen plants in 37 districts just two days ago.
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The Project Implementation Unit (PIU) of the PWD Department has been asked to select locations in all the 37 districts and set up the units within one to three months for meeting future requirements.
It is noteworthy that one of the biggest states of India does not have an oxygen plant. There are 55 districts in Madhya Pradesh, but zero oxygen plants.
A Bhopal-based doctor, who did not wish to be named, attributed most of the deaths to the unavailability of oxygen support. “Many lives could have been saved had the government been able to supply oxygen cylinders in time,” the doctor told National Herald over the phone.
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“The problem is that even the state government does not maintain data. Maybe they do not want to. Another problem is that the whole focus is on cities and urban areas whereas the pandemic has already reached rural areas of MP. No one knows how many people have died or are likely to die in villages due to lack of oxygen support and preventive medicines,” he added.
Indore-based Dr Anand Rai, a known critic of the BJP government in MP, told National Herald that oxygen shortage was causing a huge problem in the state.
“Actually, the whole system has collapsed. Even the government does not know how many beds are available in a particular hospital. Why cannot the governments develop a railway-like-system wherein everyone can see the availability of beds in hospitals?” questioned Dr Rai.
“The government seems clueless. The BJP government neither has experts who can design a policy nor infrastructure. Countless people will die owing to the present-day government’s systematic failure and inefficiency,” he added.
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Madhya Pradesh continues to be among the top contributors to India. The state has reported 3,713 active coronavirus cases and 519 deaths in the last 24 hours.
As per official data, MP is presently getting 390 metric tonnes oxygen on a daily basis against the daily requirement of 347 metric tonnes. The oxygen supply to the state with Central government’s help will be increased to 445 metric tonnes by April 20, 565 metric tonnes by April 25 and 700 metric tonnes by April 30, said the government.
However, the question is, how will the oxygen be transported to the rural areas? And even more pertinently, when will Madhya Pradesh be able to have its own oxygen plants?
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