MHA asks states to ensure free movement of oxygen carrying vehicles

NEW DELHI: In view of some states trying to curb inter-state movement of medical oxygen supplies and forcing manufacturers to restrict their supplies to only hospitals within the state, the home ministry on Friday asked the states to ensure that no restrictions are placed on the movement of oxygen between the states and from one city to another.

Underlining that adequate and uninterrupted supply of medical oxygen was crucial to managing moderate and severe cases of Covid-19, especially given the rising number of active cases, home secretary Ajay Bhalla, in a letter sent to all state chief secretaries and UT administrators on Friday, asked them to ensure that no restrictions are imposed on oxygen manufacturers and suppliers to limit the oxygen supplies only to hospitals of the state in which they are located.

Bhalla also requested the states/UTs to constitute multi-disciplinary teams, comprising representatives of the health, industry, transport departments, etc to continuously monitor the availability of medical oxygen in their respective jurisdictions. Any shortfalls should be immediately brought to the notice of central control room set up in the health ministry, he said.