Bhubaneswar: As part of helping other states grappling with the shortage of medical oxygen at Covid-19 treatment facilities, the Odisha government has sent more than 250 tonnes of medical oxygen to various cities in the last 24 hours.
Fifteen tankers carrying 250 tonnes of medical oxygen were dispatched from Rourkela, Jajpur and Angul districts in Odisha to Visakhapatnam, Hyderabad, Indore, Pune, Mumbai and Nagpur, the Odisha police said in an official statement.
Nine empty oxygen tankers from Telangana were airlifted to Odisha on Friday to bring back oxygen faster to the state for supply to hospitals treating Covid patients. Two C-17 planes of the Indian Air Force (IAF) were used to airlift the tankers from Begumpet Airport in Hyderabad. According to Telangana health minister Etala Rajendra, the tankers will return by road to bring 150 tonnes of oxygen to the state by April 27. He claimed that this is the first instance in the country where Indian Airforce planes were used to airlift oxygen tankers.
Odisha government has assured to deliver oxygen to Delhi, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Bihar.
Chief ministers of Delhi and Maharashtra thanked Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik for facilitating the process. The Odisha police have created ‘green corridors’ to ensure timely delivery of the tankers. While two tankers left for Vishakhapatnam and Pune from Jajpur Friday morning, another had left for Vishakhapatnam from Angul Thursday night.
Odisha has five medical oxygen manufacturers, which produce around 375 tonnes of liquid medical oxygen daily. The state also has 22 filling agencies. Hence the state government has assured supply of oxygen to the states grappling with the shortage of oxygen.
