Uttarakhand has sufficient medical oxygen, says CM Rawat

Amid the shortage of medical oxygen in several parts of the country, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Tirath Singh Rawat on Wednesday said the state has a sufficient amount of oxygen and even supplied a little to other states.

Speaking to , the Chief Minister said, "We have a sufficient amount of oxygen and even supplied a little to other states. We have an adequate number of hospital beds too. We have set up 1,000 beds in Sports College, Dehradun. In Haldw, we have set up beds in private colleges besides medical college and sports college."

"I went to Cantt yesterday, where 150 beds have been set up. The number of beds is being increased in other places too. Today 50 more beds will be added to Dehradun Medical College. With 30 Oxygen beds, Coronation Hospital is also functional," he added.

Asked about the shortage of anti-viral drug Remdesivir, Rawat said, "We had ordered 7,500 Remdesivir injections and had sent our aircraft to Hyderabad. It returned last evening. 2,500 more injections will come. For vaccination of everyone above 18 years of age, we have announced free vaccines for all and approved Rs 400 crores for it."

Hospitals in several states are grappling with the shortage of oxygen due to a surge in COVID-19 cases. The Government of India has been importing oxygen concentrators and oxygen generation equipment from various countries to meet the ever-growing medical oxygen demand.

IAF planes have been taken aboard to transport liquid medical oxygen to the states that are in a crunch.

Meanwhile, the Indian Railways is running 'Oxygen Express' trains and will continue to run them over the next few days to transport liquid medical oxygen and oxygen cylinders across the country. Roll-on-roll-off trucks are being transported on flat wagons by the trains for a quick supply of medical oxygen.

( With inputs from ANI )