Mission Oxygen: UP launches project to install oxygen generators in every district

To increase the oxygen supply in Uttar Pradesh amid Covid-19 pandemic, the excise and sugar industry and sugarcane development department of the UP government has started the process of installing oxygen generators across the state for the patients, it announced in a statement on Saturday.

The department officials have shortlisted 75 districts where the plants will be installed in various hospitals. The work has begun in 27 districts already, "while the remaining districts will get those soon," the official release stated.

So far, the work is complete in Saharanpur, Prayagraj, Fatehpur, Pratapgarh, Aligarh, Etah and Hathras. It also includes Sitapur, Kasganj, Badaun, Barabanki, Ayodhya, Shamli among others.

"Through the combined efforts of the Excise, Sugar Industry and Sugarcane Development Department, about 30 units of Excise Department and 45 sugar mills have ensured that in every district, there is at least one community health centre or district hospital with 35-45 beds having full-time oxygen supply through oxygen generators," it also said.

The hospitals for the task will be chosen by the district magistrate and chief central officer.

The project will see an investment of about ₹50-60 lakh per hospital, according to the statement. A letter to Air India has also been written, asking the airline to airlift these machines and deliver them to the hospitals as soon as possible.

Covid-19 is wreaking havoc in Uttar Pradesh as it has spread beyond big cities into the towns and villages in India's most populous state. On Friday, the state reported 28,076 new Covid-19 cases, 33,117 discharges and 372 deaths.

The devastating Covid-19 wave has triggered a severe shortage of oxygen cylinders families of the patients are facing a hard time to even find key medicines.

On Friday, the Allahabad High Court sought the status of the Covid-19 situation in the countryside from the Uttar Pradesh government and also the measures it is considering to curb the surge in the spread of the infection there.

On the vaccination drive in the state, a Bench comprising Justice Siddharth Verma and Justice Ajit Kumar, asked the government about a policy so that all people of the state can be inoculated in the next three to four months.

The next hearing in this matter will take place on May 11.

Stay tuned with the newstrack to get fastest updates. Click @englishnewstrack to follow us on Facebook and @newstrackmedia to follow on Twitter.