As the country faces a raging second wave of the Covid pandemic, healthcare systems have been stretched beyond capacity. The past few weeks have been flooded with reports of patients dying for lack of oxygen, desperate families scrambling to find oxygen cylinders and concentrators, and governments sparring over ownership of the life-saving gas.

So, citizens and communities are stepping up to plug the gaps.

“There were such terrifying reports on the news about the Covid crisis, we couldn’t take it anymore,” said Kashmir Singh, 58, a sevadhar at the Shri Guru Singh Sabha Gurudwara near Mumbai. The gurudwara recently started distributing free mini oxygen cans and cylinders to families of Covid patients.

Watch.