No curbs on movement of oxygen-carrying vehicles: MHA to states

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.
A report on the action taken has been sought by MHA.
Reminding the states/UTs of Unlock 4 norm barring any curbs on inter-state and intra-state movement of persons and goods, the home ministry said it had come to its notice that some states were trying to restrict inter-state movement of oxygen supplies from manufacturing units situated in their respective jurisdiction by invoking provisions of The Epidemic Disease Act 1897, The Disaster Management Act, 2005, The Essential Commodities Act and IPC and also mandating the manufacturers/ suppliers located in the state to restrict their oxygen supplies to the hospitals of the state.
Stating that medical oxygen was an essential public health commodity, more so in times of Covid-19, the home ministry asked the states/UTs to instruct transport authorities to allow free inter-state movement of oxygen carrying vehicles; not force manufacturing units to limit oxygen supplies to hospitals within the state; and allow free movement of oxygen carrying vehicles into the cities without any restriction on timings.