Karnataka: Chamarajanagar DC alleges Mysuru didn’t send oxygen on time

MYSURU: Chamarajanagar deputy commissioner MR Ravi, who is facing flak over the death of 23 Covid-19 patients at the district hospital, on Tuesday accused his Mysuru counterpart of not “responding properly” to the midnight crisis on Sunday. He disputed her claims on the timely supply of oxygen.
“I personally contacted the vendor in Mysuru at 11.45pm on Sunday and sought additional supplies as a result of which 50 oxygen cylinders were delivered at 2.20am on Monday.Mysuru deputy commissioner Rohini Sindhuri’s claim that 250 oxygen cylinders were delivered is far from truth,” alleged Ravi in a statement.
This came a day after the Mysuru district administration issued a statement that it had ensured the supply of 250 oxygen cylinders “on humanitarian grounds” in the hour of crisis. TOI tried to contact Sindhuri to seek reaction on the allegations made by Ravi, but there was no reply from her at the time of going to press.
‘First batch of oxy cylinders came only after stock was exhausted’
After an emergency cabinet meeting, chief minister BS Yediyurappa said the government would not spare any official found guilty. “We’ve sought a report from IAS officer Shivayogi Kalasad in three days. Based on the report, we will take action,” he said.
Ravi alleged 66 oxygen cylinders reached him around 1.30pm on Sunday when the liquid medical oxygen storage tank in the hospital got exhausted. Around 6pm, he received 65 oxygen cylinders from a private vendor in Mysuru. There was a requirement for 100 more cylinders, but they were not delivered on time, he alleged. He said 70 cylinders arrived around 6am on Monday — 40 were from the district administration and 30 from a private vendor.
Sources said Chamarajanagar district administration has submitted a report to the government, claiming three patients died due to oxygen shortage. Ravi said: “As per the report, only three persons died due to the severe oxygen shortage. Seven persons died due to hypoxic brain injury and others due to Covid complications.”
Opposition leader in the legislative assembly, Siddaramaiah, and KPCC president DK Shivakumar, who visited the hospital to take stock of the situation, alleged the toll was 27, not 23. “Health minister K Sudhakar and Chamarajanagar district minister Suresh Kumar have hidden information about four other deaths, which also occurred due to shortage of oxygen,” Siddaramaiah alleged, demanding a judicial probe and Rs 25 lakh compensation to the victims.
The opposition leaders demanded action against the two deputy commissioners and sought the resignation of Sudhakar.