New Delhi, May 13 (PTI) Seeking urgent intervention of the Centre, Goa, where 26 COVID-19 patients died reportedly due to oxygen shortage, has said it is not getting its full allocated daily quota of 11 tonnes of liquid oxygen from Kolhapur in Maharashtra.

In a letter to Additional Secretary in the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) Sumita Dawra, Goa's Principal Secretary Puneet Kumar Goel said due to various reasons, there has been a shortfall of more than 40 tonnes out of the allocation in the last 10 days.

He has stated that during May 1-10, the state received only 66.74 tonnes of liquid oxygen from Kolhapur out of the 110 tonnes allocated.

"It is an earnest request that we should be given 22 tonne/day in place of 11 MT for at least a week to meet up for the shortfall to stabilise the situation till the time our active cases decline," said the letter dated May 12.

On May 11, Goa Health Minister Vishwajit Rane stated that 26 COVID-19 patients died at the state-run Goa Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) in the early hours. As per reports, these patients died because of oxygen shortage.

Goel further said the 11 tonnes of allocation from Kolhapur accounts for 40 per cent of Goa's total allocation of 26 tonnes of liquid oxygen.

"Thus, the timely and adequate supply of oxygen from Kolhapur is extremely critical for catering to the rising needs of our patients," he added.

Active cases in the state as on date stand at over 32,900.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)