Few hours of oxygen supply left, says AMU's hospital
Aligarh (UP): AMU's Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College and Hospital on Wednesday sent out an alert, saying it has not received oxygen cylinders for the past four days and its own plants are running out of liquid oxygen.
The frontline central government hospital in Uttar Pradesh, which is a part of the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU), has 273 oxygen-dependent patients, including those suffering from COVID-19, officials said.
Though the hospital has oxygen plants, they have just "a few hours" of liquid oxygen supply, a senior official said, adding that a truck of liquid oxygen is expected to arrive today.
Of the 273 patients, 63 are COVID-19 positive, 140 have shown symptoms of the infection and are being tested, and 70 are non-COVID patients in serious condition, the officials said.
"We have not received a single cylinder of oxygen since the past four days and are now totally dependent on our own three plants for oxygen, which are awaiting supply of raw material (liquid oxygen)," the medical college-cum-hospital's principal Shahid Ali Siddiqi said.
Two of the plants are at the trauma centre of the hospital, while one at its old building complex. These plants convert liquid oxygen to gaseous state and then it is administered to patients.
"Our two liquid oxygen plants at the trauma centre are left with just a few hours of supply. We are expecting a truck load of raw stock supplies any time today. We hope that with this fresh arrival of stock our two plants will continue to function without a break," he said.
Siddiqi said the third liquid oxygen plant in the old building is functioning round the clock and is a "life saver". This plant has raw stock "for another 36 hours", he said.
Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday recorded its highest COVID-19 death toll so far as 265 people succumbed to the disease, while the state added nearly 33,000 fresh cases, taking the overall tally to 11,53,097, according to official data.
In view of the shortage, AMU Vice Chancellor Tariq Mansoor on Wednesday announced that the university will install a new oxygen plant within the next 30 days.
The university has from its own resources generated Rs 1.4 crore for purchasing this plant on an emergency basis, he said.
AMU Registrar Abdul Hamid sai, "Our main priority is to save human lives". The new plant will also be able to refill oxygen cylinders, he said.
Aligarh MP Satish Gautam had told reporters on Tuesday night that he had a telephonic conversation with the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.
The chief minister has assured that medical oxygen is being brought from Bokaro in Jharkhand and with this the immediate requirements of Aligarh, Mathura and Agra will be fulfilled.
He said that the chief minister has assured that the present shortage would be met.
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SP has ended contract with I-PAC due to fund constraints: Akhilesh Yadav
Lucknow (PTI): Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav on Wednesday said his party has severed its association with the Indian Political Action Committee (I-PAC) due to a lack of funds.
He dismissed speculations that the termination of contract was because of recent election results.
Addressing a press conference here, Yadav said the party had engaged I-PAC for a brief period ahead of the 2027 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections but could not continue the arrangement.
"Yes, we had an association. They worked with us for a few months, but we are not able to continue because we do not have that kind of funding," he said.
The I-PAC is a political consultancy firm known for managing major election campaigns across the country.
Election strategist-turned-politician Prashant Kishor has also been associated with the organisation in the past and has worked with multiple parties, including the BJP and the Congress.
In a lighter vein, Yadav took a swipe at the ecosystem of political consultancies. "We thought that if we have to work with a 'winning agency', then there are several big companies."
He said that some people suggested conducting surveys, hiring another firm, keeping a social media company, and even engaging agencies for negative campaigning against other parties.
"There are one or two more companies whose names are not yet known. I can get those for you as well," Yadav said.
Yadav rejected the suggestion that the decision to end the deal was influenced by recent election outcomes in states such as West Bengal.
"There is no such thing. Do not ask questions based on baseless reports. That is not true," he said.
"This is not the reason for ending the agreement. We simply do not have enough funds. If you (the media) give us funds, we can hire another company," the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister said.
