Tejasvi Surya Addresses Important Press Conference on COVID-19 Updates in Bengaluru and the city's infrastructure development

The media was jointly addressed by Health minister Dr. Sudhakar, Revenue minister R. Ashok and MP of Bengaluru south Tejasvi Surya.

During the briefing the health minister spoke about various steps taken by the government in order to meet the oxygen demand that arose due to increasing cases of covid in Bengaluru.

The minister said that the government had reached out to JSW steel Vijaynagar for help and the Chairman of the company Sri Sajjan Jindal had responded positively to the request and even offered to shut down his steel plant till the Oxygen demand is not met. As result of this the government was able to procure 40tonnes of oxygen for medical purposes.

Additionally out of the total remdisivir produced in the state, 70% percent was procured by the state government and only 30% was left for market consumption said the minister.

The smaller nursing facilities were instructed by the government to treat non covid patients and avoid treating covid patients because this may cause oxygen shortage which could result in deaths, which had to be avoided at all costs added the minister.

He also highlighted that the state government had requested the central government for the supply of additional 1400 metric tons of oxygen in coming days, for which both the chief minister and he himself had written personally to government of India. He added that the immediate thrust of the government was to vaccinate citizens and the chief minister had already spoken to the CEO of Bharat Biotech.

Addressing the media the revenue minister spoke about the coordinated efforts taken by the government to address the shortage of beds, apart from this he also spoke about the problems related to cremation of the deceased and said 4acres of land had been finalized in Tavare kere for cremation, apart from this he added that he had instructed the district officers for using government lands and assured assistance from the government.

Speaking at the press conference the honorable MP said the purpose of the press conference was to highlight the efforts taken by the government and those were highlighted by the respective ministers. Apart from this central minister Sri Piyush Goyal had responded positively to the demands of the state.

The honorable MP said that in order to make sure that the hospitals followed the norm of allotting 50% of beds for the treatment of covid patients he would personally go and inspect the hospitals to make sure that they comply.

Speaking about the metro project that was given a nod by the cabinet the MP said that Bengaluru was one of the growth engines of the country that contributed about 40% of IT exports and the metro project from Silk board junction to the airport would ease the traffic congestion and also help in controlling pollution.

The project that’s pegged at 14,000 crores will be jointly helmed by both central and state government. He said that the project will help in spurring productivity.

He also thanked the chief minister for his active interest and Finance minister Nirmala Sitaram who helped the stated secure loan from Japan international cooperation agency and Asian development bank.

He also thanked the cabinet ministers Mr. Sadananda Gowda and Hardeep Puri was their active participation in clearing the project. He thanked Mr.Amitabh Kant and Ajay Sait for their help.

He emphasized that the BJP had promised Suburban rail and Metro and they had delivered on both and this would help the people of Bengaluru immensely.