In pictures: ‘Oxygen langars’ in Delhi help patients breathe
As the Indian capital gasps for air during a deadly second wave, Sikh gurdwaras have stepped up to provide relief for the breathless.
Satish Gehra, left his home in the Raja Puri area in the Matiala district of west Delhi after his mother, Nunky Devi, developed serious breathing complications.
Both hurried to hospitals in and around Indian capital, New Delhi, yet couldn't find a bed or any emergency care as the lack of beds and oxygen supplies have compounded India's Covid-19 crisis.
The country has now crossed 20 million cases with an excess of 225,000 deaths.
The hospitals in the capital had no other choice except to turn back Gehra and his mother, like so many others before them.
Everyday more than a hundred infected patients die in the capital because of an absence of oxygen supply, which now is being sold at exorbitant prices in the black market.
Under such dire circumstances, gurdwaras in and around the capital, have organised 'oxygen langars' to give free oxygen to patients who need it.
Gurdwaras are Sikh places of worship and have always been famous for their hospitality and community kitchens - or langars - which serve free food to people.
In their hunt to secure a bed, Gehra and Nunky arrived at one such place named gurdwara Sri Guru Singh Sabha Indirapuram. The street outside it has been shut for traffic and around 100 metres of the street has been covered with tents.
Under it is a makeshift oxygen camp that can provide oxygen to around 50 patients all at once.
Almost every hospital in the capital is out of beds and oxygen supply, forcing patients to hunt for oxygen cylinders from the illicit market.
Sellers have attempted to take advantage of people’s desperation, charging as much as $600-$800 for one cylinder that typically costs $50-$70.
Amid the crisis, several gurdwaras in Delhi have now stepped up to organise 'oxygen langars' to offer free oxygen to people.
Hospitals in the capital and across the country have been pleading with the Indian government to increase oxygen supplies in the midst of rising death toll.
In the last two weeks, many hospitals in the capital claimed that they lost patients after they ran out of oxygen supply. In the meanwhile, several countries have offered assistance to help combat the crisis.
Copyright © 2024 TRT World.