UP Govt urges Railways to transport 10 ft ISO container of oxygen

Amid an acute shortage of oxygen supply in Uttar Pradesh, it has sought help from the Railways in transporting 10 ft ISO containers loaded with Liquid Oxygen from Jamshedpur to Lucknow.

New Delhi:Amid a rapid surge in covid cases, the country has been going through a severe shortage of oxygen. Indian Railways is continuing with its efforts to supply oxygen in various states. Amid this, the Uttar Pradesh government has sought help from the Railways in transporting 10 ft ISO containers loaded with Liquid Oxygen from Jamshedpur to Lucknow.

On Friday, the Ministry of Railways said in a statement that Uttar Pradesh is continuously replenishing its Oxygen supply with the help of 'Oxygen Express'-- a dedicated train engaged in the transportation of oxygen- to various state.

According to reports, UP will receive its 7th stock as the train carrying three oxygen tankers of Liquid Medical Oxygen (LMO) will start its journey from Jharkhand's Bokaro shortly.

To further boost up the oxygen supply, UP Government has also requested to transport 10 ft ISO containers loaded with Liquid Oxygen from Jamshedpur to Lucknow.

"Additional planning is required to transport ISO containers and railways officials are currently working on the best possible options to move ISO containers safely and securely. It is expected that ISO containers carrying liquid medical oxygen will start loading on May 1, 2021, at Jamshedpur," Railways stated.

As per the record, Indian Railways has delivered 664 metric tonnes of oxygen till Friday, while 126 metric tonnes is still on their way to reach the destination state.

In a statement, the Ministry of Railways informed that till Friday, more than 664 metric tonnes of LMO has been delivered to the states via Oxygen Express, which includes 174 MT to Maharashtra, 356.47 MT to Uttar Pradesh, 47.37 MT to Madhya Pradesh and 70 MT to Delhi.

Meanwhile, Oxygen Express for Haryana and Telangana are on their way to fill their tankers from Angul and Rourkela.

"Haryana will receive its first and second Oxygen express soon. Two trains, one from Rourkela to Haryana carrying 47.11 metric tonnes LMO in 3 tankers and another one from Angul to Haryana carrying 32 Metric tonnes in 2 tankers are on their way to their destination. These trains will deliver much-needed oxygen supply to the residents of Haryana in a safe and timely manner," Railways said in its statement.

On Thursday, Indian Railways informed that after the request of the Telangana Government for Oxygen express, an empty rake is en route from Secunderabad to Angul, Odisha, with 5 empty tankers. This train is expected to reach Angul on Friday.

In addition to this, Madhya Pradesh will receive its second Oxygen express carrying 47.37 MT LMO from Bokaro to Sagar and Jabalpur in four tankers. This train was started from Bokaro on April 29 and is expected to reach its destination by today evening.