Karnataka minister raps Mysuru admin over oxygen supply after hospital tragedy

Bengaluru, May 3: Venting his ire against the Mysuru district administration, Karnataka Education Minister S. Suresh Kumar said on Monday that it can not adopt the big brother attitude when it comes to supply of oxygen or other life-saving drugs to the other districts.

The minister's comments came after 23 Covid patients died due to interruption in oxygen supply at the Chamarajanagar Institute of Medical Sciences (CIMS) in Chamarajanagar district in the wee hours on Monday.

While addressing a press conference, Kumar without taking any name came down heavily on the Mysuru district administration, saying that around 80 oxygen cylinders which were meant for Chamarajnagar district did not reach there on time.

Kumar is the district in-charge minister for Chamarajnagar.

"We know that Mysuru is one of the worst affected Covid districts in the state, but that does not mean that it can prevent or delay the allocated supplies to the neighbouring districts," he said.

According to the minister, Mysuru acts like a nodal agency to supply oxygen and other life-saving drugs to the neighbouring districts of Chamarajanagar, Mandya and Kodagu.

"For some reasons, the oxygen cylinders that were meant for Chamarajnagar were not sent on time on Sunday. We are probing the matter to find out who are at fault," he said.

"As the district in-charge minister, I have sought the state government's permission to take over the defunct oxygen plant in Mysuru, store our quota of oxygen and manage its supply instead of Mysuru dictating us the terms," the minister said before leaving for Chamarajnagar.

According to Kumar, vehicles supplying oxygen in Mysuru are only allowed to carry small quantities, not beyond 15-20 cylinders at a time in most cases. This puts undue burden and stress on the hospital staff too, he said.

"Mysuru requires more oxygen or other life-saving drugs, but that should not come in the way of supplying oxygen or other medicines to the neighbouring districts," he said.

Kumar also said that he has sought a detailed report of the patients who died at CIMS from the authorities concerned.

"I want to know in what condition the patients were admitted, since how many days they were in the hospital and since when they needed oxygen support," he said.

The minister added that he has also sought a detailed report from the Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order), Pratap Reddy, who is in-charge of the oxygen supply chain in the state, regarding the flaws in the supply chain.

"The tragic incident at CIMS is an eye opener. We must set our supply chain right," he said.