Chamarajanagar deaths: Rohini Sindhuri refutes DC’s charges

MYSURU: A day after MR Ravi, Chamarajanagar deputy commissioner (DC), blamed his Mysuru counterpart Rohini Sindhuri of blocking supply of oxygen from her district Sindhuri on Wednesday dismissed the charge and substantiated her side of the story with some documents.
A shortage of medical oxygen resulted in the deaths of 23 patients at the Chamarajanagar Covid hospital on Sunday night.Ravi had stated supply from Mysuru didn’t come on time and declared Sindhuri’s claims that she had sent “250 cylinders at midnight” as “not true”.
On Wednesday, Sindhuri released a press statement attaching a report submitted by the drugs control department in Mysuru, showing the release of 251 oxygen cylinders to Chamarajanagar district hospital on May 3.
The last batch of cylinders was dispatched at 3.15am. “Oxygen supplies to a district are entirely between the supplier/re-filler and the district. Another DC has no role or authority,” Sindhuri stated. “For example, Mysuru’s oxygen supply come from Ballari. If there is a shortfall from the supplier in Ballari, I cannot blame the Ballari DC. It is the responsibility of the district to manage its own supplies. The Chamarajanagar DC should have coordinated with state level officers and got his supplies. He failed to do that and is now blaming me,” said Sindhuri.
Rohini later told reporters: “I am pained with Ravi’s allegations. In my 10 years of service, I have not done anything that puts others’ lives at risk. All lives are important to me. Let’s not indulge in a media trial.” She claimed she risked the lives of patients in Mysuru and supplied 40 cylinders after Ravi’s SOS at 11pm on Sunday.