May 24, New Delhi: The Delhi Government is working on a robust strategy to prepare for Covid third-wave as and when it happens, said senior IAS officer Udit Prakash Rai, and one of the key officials who steered Delhi out of its oxygen crisis on Monday.

“The government is working on a multi-pronged strategy to deal with any unprecedented situation like in second wave of Covid outbreak. Creating a system of 500 MT of captive capacity of Oxygen, procurement of 15 new Oxygen tankers, 6000 new cylinders and creating a dashboard for real-time oxygen data monitoring of all hospitals in Delhi are part of this strategy,” informed Rai in an exclusive interview with Bureaucrats India, a platform that works on stories of good governance by bureaucracy.

“We are fully prepared and based on the learning of this phase, we are working out a robust model,” said Rai, while sharing his excruciating experience of managing the Oxygen shortage, which he rightly termed as “an unprecedented and once-in-a-lifetime crisis.”

Rai termed Delhi’s management of oxygen crisis as the best, and much better than that of Mumbai. “Delhi has 19,000 oxygenated hospital beds, while Mumbai has only 11,000, thereby implying that we are far better equipped to assist our patients. The rise in Covid cases in Mumbai were gradual while in Delhi it spiked dramatically, causing so much stress on the demand,” he said.

“Unlike Mumbai, which has its own captive Oxygen, we did not have any and had to depend on other states for getting it. With active support of the Government of India, we managed to tide over the crisis, sooner than many thought,” said Rai. He further added, “Our model of Oxygen management is perhaps the best in India, considering the unique challenges that we had to face.”

Talking about co-ordination at different levels in dealing with the crisis, he said: “We have been able to deliver the best because we worked in a very coordinated manner. It went on round the clock. There was neither any gap nor complacency. There was a great sense of dedication among all stakeholders.” 

In response to the multitude of challenges triggered by Covid-19 including a sudden surge in the demand of oxygen, he said that transportation of oxygen at such a large scale and in no time was the real litmus test, which was cleared so effectively by the team. 

“It was an unprecedented situation. We monitored the movement of oxygen tankers from the refilling stations to the hospitals where the life saving gas was to be delivered,” he said.

Putting on record his thanks to the Centre, States, Delhi government teachers, doctors, city police and other staff, Rai said that the team spirit was at its peak. “We worked day and night. It was never felt how we spent 10-15 day like this. It happened because of the team spirit. Many times, there were moments of depression as the movement of tankers used to get delayed,” he said.