India Gasping For Oxygen, Editorial 26 April, 2021 Issue .

India  Gasping For Oxygen 

The oxygen is the basic need of life without which humans can’t survive . The second wave of Coronavirus pandemic has been much brutal in the country with patients all across struggling for oxygen . Scores of heart rending images and videos showing that patients dying due to lack of oxygen and given no medical attention have bruised the soul of India. 
Faced with shortage of oxygen supply to treat an unprecedented rise in critical Covid patients across the country, India tonight decided to ban the supply of oxygen for industrial purposes from April 22 till further order. 
“…..the supply of oxygen for industrial purposes by. manufacturers and suppliers is prohibited forthwith from 22.04.2021 till further orders,” the health ministry said in a statement.Crowds have formed outside hospitals in major cities which are filled to capacity. A number of people have died while waiting for oxygen.Experts have expressed shock and pain over the fact that Ever since the second wave of the pandemic started, the healthcare system in India has been teetering on the brink, with many hospitals unable to handle the relentless inflow of patients whilst also running short of beds, oxygen cylinders and other essentials.
The hospitals in the country are finding it hard to shore up supplies of medical oxygen amid rising demand for beds as a fast-spreading second wave of coronavirus stretches the country’s chronically underfunded medical infrastructure to breaking point, officials and doctors said.
One hopes that the Government would give utmost priority to the oxygen supply and ensure its availability in the entire country .