An oxygen supply firm has charged that its oxygen trucks are being forced to take longer routes to reach Delhi hospitals due to blockades at key border points in an obvious reference to farmers protesting farm laws. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
After the oxygen supply firm\u2019s claim, a debate has erupted over the morality of the farmers’ protest that began in November-end. Government officials claimed that a major oxygen supplier sought a green corridor for its trucks headed for Delhi, as these vehicles had to take a nearly 100-km detour from the supplier\u2019s unit in Uttar Pradesh due to a blockade at Ghazipur border. A similar situation was being faced at Singhu border while ferrying oxygen from Panipat to Delhi. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The debate also triggered questions like whether farmers should call off their protest at Delhi\u2019s borders and return home in the wake of the spike in Covid-19 cases that has left the capital on its knees and hands? <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The farmers have refused to budge, saying they have no plans of going back to their villages and that there is no coronavirus cases at protest sites. The protesting farmers have also rejected that they blocked oxygen supply trucks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Meenakshi Lekhi, the BJP MP from New Delhi, urged the courts to pass an order to send them back given how the second wave is raging. She said, <\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Will the farmers be happy if people die in hospitals because oxygen got delayed? Where does the commitment of the farmers lie?\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
A senior government official said the protesting farmers were at risk of contracting Covid-19 and the protest sites could become super-spreaders. The official claimed that little social distancing or mask protocol was followed by farmers in the protest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n