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<ul><li>The national capital of India may be facing a <keyword id="6355017" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="water-shortage">water shortage</keyword> over the next three days.</li><li>The water shortage will not only impact the general population, but also hospitals, which are currently reeling from the surge in COVID-19 patients.</li><li>According to the Delhi Jal Board (DJB), Haryana is to blame for reducing the supply of water by 20% to 30% as well as making the water dirtier.</li><li>The DJB has filed a petition with the Supreme Court to address the issue. The court will hear the cases tomorrow on May 6.</li></ul>India’s national capital, New Delhi, has been under lockdown for nearly three weeks now, due to the surging number of COVID-19 cases. And a water shortage will only make things worse. The city is already facing a number of shortages as it is, from vaccines to oxygen to medical supplies. The administration in Delhi saw this coming, more than a month ago. The vice chairman of the Delhi Jal Board (DJB), Raghav Chaddha, claims he has even written multiple letters to the Haryana Chief Minister to address the issue, but no resolution has been offered. With no other option on the table, the DJB finally moved the Supreme Court to help the national capital in its moment of crisis. It told the apex court that there is a critical shortage in water being supplied from the neighbouring states of Punjab and Haryana. Not only will the people in the city suffer at large, the water shortage could hit hospitals as well -- the same hospitals which are currently understaffed and overrun with COVID-19 patients. <div type="ExtQuote" text="&quot;Due to depletion of levels at Wazirabad Pond and reduction in the release of raw water by Haryana into Yamuna, water production has been curtailed from the water treatment plants at Wazirabad, Chandrawal and Okhla.”" auname="Notification by the Delhi Jal Board on May 5"></div> The bench, headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Nuthalapati Venkata Ramana, has decided to hear the matter tomorrow on May 6. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="How bad is the water situation in Delhi?" comment="subhead" text="How bad is the water situation in Delhi?">How bad is the water situation in Delhi?</cmsannotation> The Yamuna River in Delhi gets around 250 million gallons of raw water from the Upper Ganga Canal. As of April, that flow was down to around which means only around 200 million gallons of water is coming in. As a result there was a shortage of water at the Sonia Vihar and Bhagirathi water treatment plants. To make matters worse, the water is dirtier than it used to be. The high ammonia concentration in the Yamuna has affected the productivity of the water treatment plants in Chandrawal and Wazirabad. These two plants are responsible for churning out an average of 228 million gallons of water a day for the people of Delhi. As per the latest estimates, levels at the Wazirabad water treatment plant have fallen by over 1% from the standard level of 674.5 feet to 667.2 feet of water. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Delhi saw the water shortage coming" comment="subhead" text="Delhi saw the water shortage coming">Delhi saw the water shortage coming</cmsannotation> This is not the first time that the DJB has had to go to the Supreme Court. On March 23, the DJB told the bench headed by CJI Sharad Arvind Bobde that Haryana has plans to cut 20% of its water to Delhi to repair work in one of its canals. Senior advocate AM Singhvi and advocate Gautam Narayan, appearing for the DJB, urged the court to order Haryana to postpone the work. They argued that a reduction in water supply during the peak summer months would adversely affect the national capital. At the time, the Supreme Court had ordered Haryana, as well as Punjab and the Bhakra Beas Management Board, to not make any changes to the supply of water to Delhi until April 6. The court then extended the water supply order to April 14. The following week, on April 19, the Supreme Court appointed a committee to conduct a local inspection with regard to the quality and quantity of water coming in from Haryana to Delhi. Disputes of water between Delhi and Haryana are not new. They happen every summer when the supply of water is limited and the national capital is dependent on its neighbour to ensure adequate supply. The only difference this time is the pandemic, which is putting the spotlight back on an already ongoing battle for survival. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="This is the full list of areas in Delhi that are likely to be impacted by the water shortage between May 6 to May 8" comment="subhead" text="This is the full list of areas in Delhi that are likely to be impacted by the water shortage between May 6 to May 8">This is the full list of areas in Delhi that are likely to be impacted by the water shortage between May 6 to May 8</cmsannotation> <ol><li>Civil Lines</li><li>Hindu Rao Hospital and adjoining areas</li><li>Kamla Nagar</li><li>Shakti Nagar and adjoining areas</li><li>Karol Bagh</li><li>Pahar Ganj and NDMC areas</li><li>Old and New Rajinder Nagar</li><li>East and West Patel Nagar</li><li>Baljeet Nagar</li><li>Prem Nagar</li><li>Inderpuri and adjoining areas</li><li>Kalkaji</li><li>Govindpuri</li><li>Tughlakabad</li><li>Sangam Vihar</li><li>Ambedkar Nagar</li><li>Prahladpur and adjoining areas</li><li>Ramleela Ground</li><li>Delhi Gate</li><li>Subhash Park</li><li>Model Town</li><li>Gulabi Bagh</li><li>Punjabi Bagh</li><li>Jahangirpuri</li><li>Moolchand</li><li>South Extension</li><li>Greater Kailash</li><li>Burari and adjoining areas</li><li>Parts of the Cantonment areas, South Delhi, Central Delhi, West Delhi and North Delhi</li></ol>SEE ALSO:<a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/banks-respond-positively-to-indian-central-banks-covid-stimulus-package-check-out-the-list-of-top-gainers/articleshow/82400850.cms">Banks respond positively to Indian central bank’s COVID stimulus package – check out the list of top gainers</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/science/space/news/chinse-space-station-rocket-to-hit-earth-being-tracked-by-the-pentagon-us-space-command/articleshow/82402617.cms">The Pentagon has its eye on the out-of-control Chinese rocket that is expected to crash into Earth — but it’s not anything to lose sleep over</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india/news/private-ambulances-in-gurgaon-are-on-strike-amid-the-surging-cases-of-covid-19/articleshow/82404211.cms">COVID-19 patients are the ones paying the price amid the tussle over rates between the government and ambulance operators in Gurgaon</a>

Water shortage might be on the way to worsen Delhi's COVID-19 crisis

With New Delhi <a href="https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3036505/delhi-air-pollution-driving-tourists-away-and-spurring" class="link-text">engulfed in toxic smog</a>, a new establishment offering people a breath of fresh air is proving popular in the Indian capital.Over the past fortnight, the city has seen a public health crisis, with authorities twice declaring a pollution emergency and shutting schools while advising the elderly and infants to stay indoors. Concentrations of the most harmful airborne pollutants in the a city of 25 million are regularly about 20 times the <a href="https://www.scmp.com/topics/world-health-organisation" class="link-text">World Health Organisation</a> safe limit as industrial pollution and vehicle exhaust fumes – combined with smoke from crop stubble burning – cast a toxic pall over the metropolis. But at Oxy Pure customers can inhale 80-90 per cent pure oxygen infused with essential oils such as peppermint, cinnamon, lavender and lemongrass for 299 rupees (US$4.17) per 15-minute session. Nishika Waghela, 33, breathes in oxygen mixed with different scents at Oxy Pure. Photo: Reuters The <keyword id="1853846" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="oxygen-bar">oxygen bar</keyword> was launched in May by Aryavir Kumar and Margarita Kuritsyana, and supplies its scented air through lightweight tubes placed under the customers’ nostrils. Kumar said he gets between 30 and 40 customers per day, as well as providing “portable cans” of air that they can carry around with them. Some of those who have tried it after suffering the ill effects of pollution – itchy eyes, runny noses and throat infections – say they were unsure if the therapy had a psychological effect, but it did make them feel refreshed. A motorcyclist passes a worker sweeping a road shrouded in <keyword id="68139" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Smog">smog</keyword> in New Delhi. Photo: Bloomberg Others were less sure, however, with several taking to social media to criticise the very concept behind the bar and one declaring that Delhi “has officially gone mad”. Doctors say taking oxygen for a short while, even in high concentrations, has no benefit, and breathing extremely high levels can actually be harmful, including causing lung damage. Several Delhi residents, like Kapil Gulliya, who works with a financial services firm, described the oxygen bar as a gimmick, misusing the alarm over pollution for commercial purposes. “What use is 15 minutes of oxygen when pollution is many times the <keyword id="6356001" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="international">international</keyword> safe limits here, equal to smoking 30 cigarettes a day?” Last week, <a href="https://www.scmp.com/topics/india" class="link-text">India</a>’s Supreme Court criticised the government for making “little constructive efforts” to curb pollution. The court has ordered a new clampdown on stubble burning on farms surrounding the capital.Bonny Irengbam, a senior sales assistant at Oxy Pure, told The Indian Express newspaper that “some people, who try it for the first time, will feel relaxed and fresh. But only people who undergo the sessions regularly will get real benefits of the aroma.” Irengbam said he does not encourage back-to-back sessions and advises his customers to stick with one 15-minute session per day. “I was passing by and saw that they were offering pure oxygen. I thought I’ll give it a try and went for the lemongrass flavour. It was refreshing,” Manjul Mehta, an Oxy Pure customer, told the daily. Oxy Pure is located in an upscale mall in the south of Delhi, with a second outlet expected to be launched by next month at Delhi’s main airport, according to Irengbam.

In smog-choked New Delhi, enterprising oxygen bar soothes residents’ lungs – for a price

<ul class="summary-list"><li><keyword id="6354576" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="facebook">Facebook</keyword>, Twitter, and <keyword id="790242" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="WhatsApp">Whatsapp</keyword> have been flooded with desperate calls for COVID-19 help from people in <keyword id="3658" type="COUNTRY" weightage="60" keywordseo="India">India</keyword>.</li><li>Doctors, politicians, and patients are seeking <keyword id="6355647" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="Oxygen">oxygen</keyword>, ICU beds, and blood plasma.</li><li>India's COVID-19 daily cases hit a world record on Sunday, with 350,000 new cases.</li></ul>In India, social-media platforms are flooded with requests for oxygen, intensive care unit (ICU) beds, and blood plasma amid the deepening COVID-19 crisis.India recorded <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/covid-india-cases-rising-record-infections-coronavirus-2021-4">more than 350,000 daily COVID-19 cases</a> on Sunday, breaking the world record for the fifth consecutive day.Doctors, politicians, and COVID-19 patients and their loved ones are using hashtags #CovidSOS and #COVIDEmergency2021 in Twitter posts to plead for supplies, <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2021/4/25/22402273/twitter-whatsapp-facebook-triage-center-india-oxygen-hospital-coronavirus">The Verge</a> first reported. <a href="https://chat.whatsapp.com/Hr4LlyNHLiuETGzmdVgpsR?fbclid=IwAR0ahsmXkoHIPgxyzBmG6kf7E9HNeVNtLVAI6MtGsxwQz4Ug7-mWDgzThgU">Groups on WhatsApp</a> and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/humankindglobal">Facebook</a> such as HumanKind Global are full of people searching for blood plasma and oxygen to help COVID-19 patients, The Verge reported.<a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/humankindglobal"></a>Hospitals in the country are struggling to cope with <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/us-to-help-india-with-covid-19-crisis-through-vaccine-production-supplies-2021-4">shortages of beds and oxygen supplies</a> - some say they only have a few hours' of oxygen supply left. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/photos-indias-crematoriums-have-started-to-melt-so-many-bodies-2021-4#in-the-indian-state-of-gujarat-gas-and-firewood-furnaces-at-crematoriums-have-been-running-so-long-without-a-break-that-metal-parts-have-begun-to-melt-15">Crematoriums are also starting to melt</a> from operating for so long.Prashant Kanojia, member of the Rashtriya Lok Dal party in India and a former journalist, on Sunday <a href="https://twitter.com/PJkanojia/status/1385751693627838465">tweeted with the hashtag #CovidSOS</a> that a hospital in Meerut, north India, needed urgent oxygen supplies.Read more: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/covid-19-modi-india-failed-in-critical-hour-of-need-2021-4">Hospitals in India are turning patients away and COVID-19 cases are skyrocketing. But Prime Minister Modi is on the campaign trail and ignoring the crisis.</a>In response to a <a href="https://twitter.com/bainjal/status/1383048960365850632">thread by journalist Swati Chaturvedi</a> to amplify people's requests for help, <a href="https://twitter.com/abmoitra/status/1383096513417592834">one Twitter user </a>said her relative was a critical cancer patient who couldn't be transferred to ICU because there were no beds available.Another <a href="https://twitter.com/ankitkaul/status/1383066917624111106">Twitter user replied to the thread</a>, saying that their friend's father was "extremely critical" and needed a ventilator urgently in the National Capital Region of India.Vinay Srivastava, an Indian journalist who had COVID-19, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/covid-19-india-journalist-live-tweeted-oxygen-levels-before-died-2021-4">tweeted on April 16 that his oxygen levels</a> had dropped and that he needed medical help. He was denied healthcare because he didn't have the right paperwork, local media reported. He died the day after his Twitter plea.Hemant Rajaura, a <keyword id="6354750" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="health">health</keyword> reporter for Hindustan Newspaper, <a href="https://twitter.com/hemantrajora_/status/1386375534402179079?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1386375534402179079%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fpublish.twitter.com%2F%3Fquery%3Dhttps3A2F2Ftwitter.com2Fhemantrajora_2Fstatus2F1386375534402179079widget%3DTweetweet">tweeted</a> on Sunday that the oxygen supply in Irene Hospital in New Delhi had dropped, endangering patients. The day before, he <a href="https://twitter.com/hemantrajora_/status/1386210932431355909">tweeted</a> that Delhi needed 700 tons of oxygen to cope with demand, but that only 330 tons was reaching the city.The US on Sunday said <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/us-to-help-india-with-covid-19-crisis-through-vaccine-production-supplies-2021-4">it would provide supplies</a> for testing, drugs, personal protective equipment, ventilators, and vaccines to help India fight its current coronavirus wave. <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/covid-vaccine-tracker-global-distribution/?sref=Hhue1scO">Less than 2%</a> of India's population is fully vaccinated.

Doctors and COVID-19 patients in India are turning to social media in desperate pleas for oxygen, blood plasma, and ICU beds

New Delhi, May 25 () Mahindra Group Chairman Anand Mahindra on Monday said lockdown extensions are not just economically disastrous but also create another medical crisis. While acknowledging that choices are not easy for policy makers, he said a lockdown extension will not help. "Lockdown extensions aren't just economically disastrous, as I had tweeted earlier, but also create another medical crisis," Mahindra said in a tweet. He was referring to an article that highlighted "the dangerous psychological effects of lockdowns &amp; the huge risk of neglecting non-COVID patients". Mahindra, who had earlier proposed a comprehensive lifting after 49 days of lockdown, further said, "The choices aren't easy for policy makers but a lockdown extension won't help". He said, "The numbers (coronavirus cases) will continue to rise &amp; the focus must be on rapid expansion of field hospital beds with oxygen lines". He further said, "The army has enormous expertise in this". On March 22, before the government announced nationwide lockdown, Mahindra had proposed such a move expressing concerns over reports that India was likely to have already reached stage 3 of coronavirus transmission. RKL BAL

Lockdown extensions economically disastrous, create another medical crisis: Mahindra

<ul class="summary-list"><li>With 24 hours notice, I flew from New York to New Delhi to help my father care for sick family members. </li><li>My grandmother's condition began to worsen and we had to find an available hospital bed, but there were very few options. </li><li>In the week since I arrived in <keyword id="3658" type="COUNTRY" weightage="60" keywordseo="India">India</keyword>, I lost friends and family members - all I could do was write condolence messages. </li><li>Amitoj Singh is a New York-based journalist who has previously been principal anchor and <keyword id="6355005" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="news">news</keyword> editor at India's New Delhi Television. </li><li>This is an <keyword id="6356002" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="opinion">opinion</keyword> column. The thoughts expressed are those of the author. </li></ul>In the span of 24 hours, two of my friends lost their fathers to India's COVID crisis.It was that fear for my father's life that made me pack my bags and leave New York within a day's notice.It was April 24 and New York was coming back - you could feel it. The sun was shining that glorious Saturday. I woke up, donned my running shoes, grabbed my headphones, and without checking my overnight messages, took off for a run around the Central Park reservoir. Midway through the run, I got a rare call from my dad's sister. I would call her back. But then a feeling nagged me so I called my dad. He answered like he always did whatever the situation."Ya Johnny," as he calls me. Not waiting to hear my reply, I heard him ask my 93-year-old grandmother to keep her mask on. "Don't you want to get well?" I stayed quiet for a moment. "Dad, do you have COVID?" I interrupted."I may have. I don't know. I haven't been able to get a test yet. I've been kind of sick for the past few days. But everyone here is sick. I'll call you back." He needed to give someone medicine. He was taking care of his cousin and mother at their house in a town called Paonta Sahib, a five-hour drive from New Delhi, India.Over the next half hour, I learned that COVID had hit my family in three separate households. I knew I needed to help my father, and since I was fully vaccinated, I decided to fly back to India. <h2>From a city that survived to a country in crisis</h2>As a breaking news journalist for the past 10 years, I'm used to packing my bags quickly and leaving for a new destination. But, this time was different. I was leaving New York after having survived the worst of the city's crisis, after avoiding getting the virus for more than a year. It felt like the <keyword id="43587" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="pandemic">pandemic</keyword> was over. But now I was travelling to the world's second-most populous country where the virus was uncontrollable."What will you be able to do? You don't understand. The moment you exit the airport, you will get the virus. It's in the air. It's everywhere," warned my brother-in-law urging me to not come. His mother and grandmother had been infected in the same house.On the plane, I overheard a number of my fellow double-masked passengers asking about the health of loved ones back home."What are the oxygen levels?""I should be home in about 15 hours. Do we need a hospital bed yet?"After landing in India, I entered our family home. My father spoke to my grandmother, "Look who has come. He's come from America to be with you." Even the oxygen mask couldn't hide her happiness at seeing me. But for me, there was no time to feel joy, relief, or family warmth, only the slow build-up of shock - an unbelievable realization that a crisis I thought was over, was very much alive.My family house looked like a hospital. Medicine, defibrillators, an IV line set up, an oxygen concentrator, and medical supplies crowded the rooms. My father was performing a non-stop schedule of cooking, measuring oxygen and blood pressure levels, seeking the advice of doctors, giving medicine, updating the rest of the family, and constantly planning the next move - which hospital has a bed we can take her too?Three other members of the family had COVID too. Still jet-lagged, I settled into the night shift to look after my grandmother. She would unknowingly take off her oxygen mask and I would put it back on to keep her blood oxygen levels stable. When she took it off, her oxygen levels shot down. So far, I was winning. I just had to gently hold her hand through the night. <h2>"It's in the air. It's everywhere."</h2>By now, COVID had brutalized India.Horror stories were emerging. A <a href="https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/baby-starved-for-2-days-as-mother-lay-dead-no-one-helped-fearing-covid-2425451">baby had starved for two days</a>, while his mother lay dead from COVID beside him. <a href="https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/14915417/covid-bodies-loating-ganges-river-india/">Bodies washed up</a> on the banks of India's most holy river, the Ganges. <a href="https://factly.in/this-video-showing-a-long-queue-of-dead-bodies-awaiting-cremation-is-from-delhi-not-bhopal/">Snake-shaped queues of bodies waiting outside cremation sites</a> sent a chill down the spine. India had become the only nation to pass 400,000 cases and 3,500 deaths in one day. Experts believed, in reality, <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2021/04/27/india/india-covid-underreporting-intl-hnk-dst/index.html">deaths and infections were likely three to five times more</a>.<div type="image" title="Cows feast on fruits left as offerings at the cremation site of a COVID victim" height="2688" width="3583" msid="82859013" hostid="261"></div>News of the death of a family elder, a loving grand-uncle, rocked us. He had been as close to me as a grandfather. Speaking to friends and family, I learned COVID was in every household. A former colleague, in his 30s, dead.A friend's grandfather, dead.A friend's wife, a mother to two young kids, dead.<h2>Chasing hospital beds</h2>In all of this, my grandmother's condition was worsening. My father decided it was time to get her to a hospital bed. One was available three hours away in a small town in the hills of the North Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. The ambulance arrived, but the medical staff refused to touch my grandmother for fear of contracting the virus. We had to transport her to the ambulance ourselves. Midway to the hospital, the oxygen supply malfunctioned temporarily.Upon arrival, two doctors outside the COVID-dedicated facility spoke to my father. They were impatient, frustrated, and immediately cited their doubts. They didn't think a 93-year-old could survive. They didn't want to take responsibility for another death. They said maybe it's better if we took her back home. Moments before our arrival, a 38-year-old man had died within seconds of entering the premises. They hadn't even been able to take him out of the ambulance. My father assured the doctor, my grandmother was a fighter. She had no comorbidities at 93 - we expected she would live past 100 easily. They allowed her to be admitted. But their frustration was justified. The hospital itself was inadequate; it didn't have ventilators, a laboratory for basic diagnostic tests, a CAT scan, resuscitation equipment, or an ICU. Even oxygen was rationed between 32 patients as there were only nine regulators. Two of the four government-appointed attendants had not been paid in five months.<div type="image" title="The writer’s grandmother, Harjit Kaur, being treated by the doctors at a Covid facility in North India" height="1040" width="584" msid="82859016" hostid="261"></div>We had to recalibrate. We couldn't take my grandmother to Delhi or any other nearby town. We couldn't take her back home because my father had given our oxygen concentrator to a friend in an emergency, thinking there would be oxygen at the hospital. We tried to find an open hotel for the night. We found one, but they required negative COVID tests and we didn't have any.They allowed us to sit in their restaurant to have tea. Eventually the owner came out. He happened to know my grandmother from her work as a social worker in the area. He explained the situation."It's horrible. I suggest you drive back. You can't do anything. You can keep track of what's happening by video-calling the doctor regularly."On our drive back, my father made dozens of calls to find a bed in a better medical facility. We had no luck; there were no beds anywhere. The next day we were able to find accommodation near the hospital, so we drove back to be near my grandmother. The rest of my family scrambled to find oxygen in case she needed to come home.<div type="image" title="The ambulance that came at 8 PM on May 4 to take Harjit Kaur, the writer’s grandmother back home." height="2476" width="3302" msid="82859018" hostid="261"></div>After three days, the doctor was prepared to discharge my grandmother. She was heard mumbling "take me back home." Her oxygen levels were stable, and we were told she was "COVID-free." The doctor even posted a picture with her on social media, proud of having treated a 93-year-old patient. She was looking better.<h2>The crisis is not over</h2>Despite the positive signs, 24 hours later, after an irregular heartbeat sent us to a local hospital and home again since we couldn't find space in an ICU, my grandmother died as she passed over the threshold into her house. She had died the way she wanted, in her own home.In the week since I arrived in India, I lost friends and family members. I tried to help with oxygen and finding hospital beds, but in the end, all I could do was write out condolence messages.<div type="image" title="A pyre burns at the banks of India’s Yamuna river, Paonta Sahib, a designated cremation site for COVID related deaths" height="3024" width="4032" msid="82859022" hostid="261"></div>Back in the US, I saw friends moving on from the pandemic - most of them had been vaccinated, extra doses were everywhere, New York was opening up, and selfies of joyful reunions adorned my media platforms.In India, I was under lockdown. I couldn't step outside. I was still trying to get my parents fully vaccinated, still trying to help friends and acquaintances get beds, oxygen, and vaccines. I was reliving the pandemic.While the US is moving on, the pandemic still rages in India. Four days ago, on May 18, India recorded 4,529 COVID deaths, the pandemic's highest single daily death toll in any country so far.

Several members of my family in India got COVID, so I flew home to help. While the US reopens, India is still deep in crisis.

New Delhi, Mar 29 () The department for promotion of industry and internal trade and Startup India have launched a competition for budding entrepreneurs and companies to come out with innovative solutions to fight against Covid 19 crisis."Help us fight the Covid 19 hurdle together by participating in the United Against COVID-19-Innovation Challenge," Startup India has said in a tweet.Startup India is an initiative of the DPIIT to promote innovation in the country.It said that the challenge is open to all startups, companies, and innovators - whose innovation can plug the gap between the demand and supply of essential medical items to fight the Covid-19 outbreak. The competition can also innovate technology for applications such as motion tracking, geo-fencing and fake news detection."As the world is currently looking at a serious healthcare challenge caused by the pandemic Covid-19, DPIIT with Startup India is scouting for innovative technologies and solutions for precautionary as well as treatment-related interventions."We are building a one-stop repository of innovative solutions for ready access by the government and the private sector for further development and deployment," Startup India said.It also said the top solutions will be referred to the government and private stakeholders for further funding and deployment.The solutions will also be published on the Invest India Business Immunity Platform, which is an interactive resource for investors, the business community, and other stakeholders to access all relevant information about India's fight against COVID-19.Citing examples, it said solutions can be in the areas of low-cost masks which can capture virus from the air and absorb respiratory droplets; cost-effective thermal scanning devices and rapid diagnostic kits, critical-care equipment -- including portable oxygenators and home-based ventilators to monitor and control the spread of the new coronavirus, among others. RR BALBAL

DPIIT, Startup India seek innovative solutions from startups to fight Covid-19 crisis

<ul class="summary-list"><li><keyword id="3658" type="COUNTRY" weightage="60" keywordseo="India">India</keyword>'s <keyword id="1754604" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="coronavirus">coronavirus</keyword> crisis is surging at unprecedented rates, with 3,000 people dying every day.</li><li>One crematorium in <keyword id="66" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Delhi">Delhi</keyword> is receiving up to 90 bodies a day, compared to 10 on a typical day.</li></ul>Jitender Signh Shunty stares at death every day."I have carried more than 45,000 dead bodies in ambulances and helped in performing more than 23,000 cremations to date," said Shunty.He runs a service in Delhi, India, that transports and cremates bodies for free.For 25 years, Shunty has been doing this work. But as India's coronavirus crisis surges to unprecedented heights, the bodies are piling up faster than ever. One crematorium where he works, Seemapuri Shamshan Ghat, used to receive 10 bodies a day. Now it's seeing up to 90 bodies on average.He never imagined this, and he's struggling to keep up."These days i don't even get two hours of sleep," he said. "At 7 a.m. I come here, I start dispatching ambulances, or I arrange for a dead body to be picked up, then get it cremated."It's so crowded that sometimes people have to wait for hours to cremate their family members, or even return the next day."I am a very strong person, and I like working," Shunty said. "I can work 21 out of 24 hours a day - I am not the kind of person who breaks down easily. But in this wave of the coronavirus, I've seen the dead bodies of small children and women who have become widows at a young age. They all have died for no good reason."On the deadliest day so far, more than 3,000 people died in India.<div type="image" title="india covid" height="1080" width="1920" msid="82336970" hostid="261"></div>Many Hindu <keyword id="44898" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Burial">burial</keyword> customs are also impossible right now, but Shunty is doing his best to honor the dead."We sanitize the body, pack it, and provide transportation for the dead body," he said. "We first get the wood ready, and then we carry the body. Some bodies are accompanied by only one or two people, so we help them carry the body too. We even help them build the wood pyre."Even the basics, like wood, are running out."At this time we are buying wood for 100 rupees," said Shunty. "That's more than the rate fixed by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi. But we have sworn an oath that we will not let anyone suffer due to the shortage of wood, even if we have to sell our homes."Usually, cremation costs 5,500 rupees, or $74. But Shunty's organization is doing it for free, relying on donations.To date, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/india/indias-total-deaths-covid-19-passes-200000-mark-2021-04-28/">more than 200,000 have died in India from COVID-19</a>. But experts say the official tally likely underestimates the actual toll in the nation of 1.3 billion people."During COVID, I have witnessed startling scenes where a child refuses to cremate his father, whose dead body is lying in front of him, because he's scared," Shunty said. "There are many people who genuinely can't come with their dead because they are quarantining at home. They would ask us to undertake and perform the cremation. In this way, we have cremated around 150 to 200 bodies."With a heavy, nearly impossible workload, Shunty never forgets that each body represents a whole life."My heart pains," he said. "And I feel deeply disturbed. I get sentimental when a dead body comes here, of a child or anyone. When people cry, I can't help but cry myself."He worries about his own loved ones, too."I am scared that I might infect my family, as I spend a lot of time here," Shunty said. And because of this, I keep some clothes and some other important things in my car."In the last wave, his whole family was infected, he was in serious condition, and one of his drivers died."We take all the precautions that we should. We wear gloves, masks, and socks. We sanitize. But when this is fated to happen, it will happen."Seeing death day after day has taken its toll on Shunty."It's not just people who are dying in Delhi," he said. "It's humanity that is dying, too. This brings me to tears when I realize we are living in such a city where there is no value of human life.""When a basic thing like oxygen is not available to people, then how can you trust humanity?"

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