Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Madhya Pradesh administration has dialled senior officials of Uttar Pradesh government after a tanker carrying life-saving oxygen for hospitals in Sagar district was held up during transit through Uttar Pradesh, officials said.
A tanker from Bokaro in Jharkhand was on its way to Sagar, where the availability of medical oxygen was at a critical level, two officials with knowledge of the matter said. The MP government had sourced oxygen from steel plants in Bokaro.
The tanker, they said, was to reach Sagar on Sunday but it was held up in Uttar Pradesh. "Our tanker tracking team has informed us that two UP police constables are sitting in the vehicle and trying to divert the tanker to its destination in the state," one of the officials said.
On learning, senior MP government officials have got in touch with the UP administration to get the tanker released. "The process is on. We are trying to get the tanker to its original destination," the second official said.
He, however, said it wasn't clear when the tanker will be released. Hospitals are facing acute oxygen shortage as Covid-19 cases surged to a record high. Industrial oxygen is being diverted for medical use.
India on Sunday reported a record daily rise of 349,691 new coronavirus infections, taking its overall tally to 1.69 crore. 2,767 new deaths took the total coronavirus fatalities to 192,311.
