The
Delhi Government “inflated” the need of oxygen in the national capital by as
much as four times at the peak of the second wave of COVID-19 in months of April-May,
said an alleged interim report of a Supreme Court audit team. The report, which
also pointed out that the supply of excess oxygen to Delhi hit supply to other
states, has led to AAP versus BJP, which has accused Chief Minister Arvind
Kejriwal of “heinous crime” and “criminal negligence”.

AAP has strongly dismissed the report saying, “There is no such report.”
Responding to the controversy, Kejriwal said his
“only crime was that he was working for 2 crore people of Delhi.”

Also Read | 776 doctors died during second COVID wave in India, highest in Bihar: IMA

Here’s
your 10-point brief to the story:

1) The Kejriwal government’s claim of 1,140 Metric Tonnes was four times the calculated consumption per the formula based on bed capacity, which was 289 MT only, said the alleged interim report of the Supreme Court audit team, according to ndtv.com.

2) The team, according to the report, was led by AIIMS Director Randeep Guleria, and included Delhi Government Principal Home Secretary Bhupinder Bhalla, Max Healthcare Director Sandeep Buddhiraja, Union Jal Shakti Ministry Joint Secretary Subodh Yadav and Sanjay Kumar Singh of the Petroleum and Oxygen Safety Organization (PESO).

3) The audit team’s alleged findings on the Kejriwal government’s “inflated” claims on oxygen needs are from a PESO study, which said that the Delhi Government’s data from April 29 to May 10 showed the consumption of oxygen did not exceed 350 MT.

4) The study, according to the report, said Delhi had “surplus oxygen during the period. This, it said, affected the supplies to other states.

5) Lashing out at Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal over the report-in-question, BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra said the Delhi government had demanded 1,140 MT of the life-saving gas during the peak of the second wave even though it could utilise 209 MT.

6) “Imagine the amount of criminality. This is a heinous crime by Arvind Kejriwal… The report has exposed the politics he did to shift blame from his incompetence and failure to deal with COVID-19,” Patra said.

7) Responding to the report, Chief Minister Kejriwal tweeted: “My crime – I fought for the lives of 2 crore people of Delhi. While you were busy fighting elections I was arranging oxygen… Many people have lost their loved ones due to the shortage of oxygen. Don’t lie, they are feeling bad.”

8) Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, however, accused the BJP of lying about the existence of such a report.

9) “There is no such report. We have spoken to the members of the Oxygen Audit Committee formed by the Supreme Court. They said they have not signed or approved any such report.

10) On May 5, during the peak of the second wave of novel coronavirus infections, a bench of the top court had directed the Centre to maintain oxygen supply of 700 MT to Delhi even as Solicitor General Tushar Mehta had presented experts’ calculation pegging the need to be around 415 MT of LMO. The direction came after the Delhi government raised alarm over a shortage in oxygen supply