CM Uddhav Thackeray gets Centre to ramp up oxygen supply

Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for oxygen and remdesivir supply directly proportional to the active COVID19 cases in MaharashtraHe has asked for another 300350 metric tonnes MT oxygen in addition to the 1500 MT the state needs daily to meet future requirements With regard to Remdesivir he has asked for at least 70000 vials per day as against the 27000 allocatedIAF planes airlift oxygen tankers from Air Force Station Hindan in UP to Panagarh in West Bengal in support of COVID19 mitigation PicTwitterThackeray placed the statersquos demands during a meeting the PM had with the CMs of pandemicaffected states on Friday Thackeray had suggested airlifting oxygen recently and reiterated the demand while presenting Maharashtrarsquos cause He demanded 13000 jumbo oxygen cylinders and 1100 ventilatorsCurrently Maharashtra has over 60000 patients requiring oxygen There are 76300 oxygen beds and 25000 ICU beds The daily oxygen requirement is 1550 MT of which 300350 MT is being brought from other states However since the providing states are at long distances the CM wants the Centre to make oxygen available from neighbouring states ldquoWe need the air forcersquos assistance and intervention of the National Disaster Management Department to reduce the time roro railways takerdquo Thackeray saidThe Prime Ministerrsquos Office PMO said the railways and Indian Air Force IAF were being deployed to reduce travel time of oxygen tankers ldquoPM Modi stated that the central government is working on all possible options to reduce the travel time and turnaround time of oxygen tankers For this the railways have started oxygen express Empty oxygen tankers are also being transported by IAF to reduce oneway travel timerdquo said a press releaseAs per the PMO the PM has said that every state should ensure that no oxygen tanker is stopped or gets stranded The PMO added that Modi will attend a meeting later in the day to discuss all options to ramp up oxygen supplyMaharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope said 10 per cent of total active patients need oxygen He said the state was also ramping up the capacity by finding novel ways and making industries participateldquoThe sugar mills have been asked to give their cylinders and the option of oxygen production in sugar mills is being explored Mr Sharad Pawar has taken an initiative in this regardrdquo he saidNeed 70k Remdesivir dailyThackeray demanded that remdesivir injections should be supplied on the basis of active cases ldquoWe canrsquot say how useful this injection is but it definitely reduces the patientrsquos stay in hospitalrdquo he said adding that the Centre should also work on the availability of other essential medicines and drugsHe wanted the Centre to study a double mutant found in Maharashtra for its genome sequencing which can help in treatmentPM Modi asked states to check hoarding and black marketing of oxygen and medicines like RemdesivirOn Thursday state BJP spokesperson Keshav Upadhye had dismissed the claim that the Centre gave Maharashtra only 26000 vials every dayldquoActually the Maharashtra Government placed a requirement of 26000 per day for 10 days and the Centre gave what was demanded The state should estimate the requirement correctly instead of blaming the Centre for everythingrdquo he said