An O2 story

Ram Grover’s posts on Twitter yesterday vividly describe the situation in possibly every Indian city. In small towns they must be gasping and dropping.

This is the state of the common man.

I am at a place where they are filling cylinders with oxygen. There is a line on the main road, from where the cops and civil defence allow about 5 to 7 people to go inside with the cylinders. There are rickshaws etc who load the cylinder and then ride till the gate…
— Ram Grover (@RamGrover) May 4, 2021

pic.twitter.com/aGCBklHFWL
— Ram Grover (@RamGrover) May 4, 2021

About 200 plus cylinders in front of mine. It's been more than an hour and the line has not moved forward at all. People are sleeping on cylinders, some say they have been here for a day. Like everyone else, I am also waiting, fully aware that by the time my turn comes…
— Ram Grover (@RamGrover) May 4, 2021

A number. Line no this for medicine, line no that for oxygen. And it doesn't end. It took over 4 hours a couple days back to get HRCT done, whatever that is and whatever it shows. This is madness, a colossal failure of the powers that are.
In addition to all this,…
— Ram Grover (@RamGrover) May 4, 2021

People here, whether civilians or cops, are at high risk of contracting #Covid19 . Social distancing when you are ferrying around a cylinder that weighs more than most of us and is taller than most of us, isn't easy. Just now the cops have announced that the plant will now be
— Ram Grover (@RamGrover) May 4, 2021

Line.
This is not feasible.
This is not my job, and it isn't of the countless people standing in line here.
This is a clear failure – I don't know of who or what. Blaming the government won't help us in getting oxygen. Blaming someone or something won't help.
— Ram Grover (@RamGrover) May 4, 2021

India, right now, needs management. People with skills in supply chain.
And while I wait, I wonder if by the time I reach home with the cylinder, will it be able to be used or not, or would my family have added to the list of statistics.
— Ram Grover (@RamGrover) May 4, 2021

The full thread can be read on threadreaderapp here.

Folks who don’t need to go out, STAY HOME.

Especially if you are UP, the cows are getting all the oxygen and oximeters too!

This article says these Cow help centres are equipped with pulse oximeters. Pulse oximeters are put on fingers or toes. But cows only have hoofs. So how do you pulse oximeter a cow? https://t.co/gaPGPGLHlr
— Dr Soumitra Pathare সৌমিত্র சௌமித்ரா பாடாரே (@netshrink) May 5, 2021

Supplies from all over the world are said to have reached India, but they do not seem to have reached the people who need them.

Foreign assistance is pouring into India, but oppressive bureaucracy has caused long delays in getting it distributed. For health providers and all those who are sick and desperately in need of help, this must seem like a cruel joke. https://t.co/v0DTelgins
— Michael Kugelman (@MichaelKugelman) May 5, 2021

.@OnReality_Check | "No, we have not received any #oxygen concentrators from foreign aid consignment," says Dr B.L Sherwal, Director, Rajiv Gandhi Super Speciality Hospital pic.twitter.com/5CJMvFlNyx
— NDTV (@ndtv) May 4, 2021

In Delhi, the Central Vista construction is in full swing, ignoring the screams of the pandemic.

Central Vista project.All heritage lamp posts and British link chains all uprooted along the Rajpath, including Jamun trees. 😢😡

Such a beautiful this area was .But megalomaniac didn't like that pic.twitter.com/66PH9h6kCO
— 🇮🇳 Ashish (@DixitAshish96) May 5, 2021

This is amazingly insensitive – sorry cruel and worse. Government Sets Deadline For PM's New House Amid Covid – NDTV https://t.co/92yh04JEx4
— ParanjoyGuhaThakurta (@paranjoygt) May 3, 2021

#Replug | The jamun trees of Central Vista are an entire ecosystem on their own, both culturally and ecologically.

The proposal to remove possibly hundreds of mature jamun trees from Central Vista has no scientific basis.https://t.co/vHzu885nIv
— The Wire (@thewire_in) May 5, 2021

The feeling of helplessness is overtaking many. This dark tunnel is getting really long.