Even as the country faces acute crises of medical oxygen supplies to treat the rising number of Covid-19 patients, the people of Kashmir don’t mind giving their own share of the life-saving gas to severely-affected Maharashtra.
In a heartwarming gesture, Kashmir based dealers, who had 100 oxygen concentrators in stock, sold those to an aid organization based in the financial capital of the country that too at cost much lesser than market price.
The Kashmiri dealers had procured these oxygen concentrators in winter when the price of such equipment was at its lowest due to the declining Covid-19 cases.
“Suppliers in Delhi who earlier offered Oxygen Concentrators, for Rs 38 to Rs 45 thousand a piece are quoting a new price : Rs 75 to Rs 85 thousand a piece and the waiting period is 2 weeks,” Mohammad Afaq Sayeed, who runs SRO Batamaloo, an organisation working for the welfare of the poor wrote on his Facebook wall.
“And Kashmiri dealers who had Oxygen Concentrators in stock sold the same to Aid Organisation of Maharashtra for Rs 42 to Rs 44 thousand only. More than 100 machines sent to Maharashtra from Kashmir. Hats off. Time and again Kashmiris are proving, what compassion and care means (sic),” he added.
The shortage of oxygen in hospitals across the country has led to a rush for oxygen concentrator machines. The equipment that can be kept at home is being seen as a handy life-saving device.
The machine filters oxygen from the air in the room, which can be administered to the patient. As an increasing number of patients resort to home quarantine, demand for oxygen concentrators shooting through the roof.