The first Oxygen Express carrying 39 metric tonnes (MT) of medical oxygen for Rajasthan arrived at the Kota railway station on Friday, officials said as the state faces a shortage of life-saving gas.
The train brought oxygen from Reliance’s refinery-cum-petrochemical complex in Jamnagar (Gujarat) following Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla’s intervention.
Birla, who is a member of Parliament from Kota, said the oxygen would help meet the oxygen needs of Covid-19 patients in Rajasthan. “The oxygen that came through the train and by road was in addition to the allocation by the Centre to the state,” he said. “Rajasthan will soon get 167,000 remdesivir injections, 250 oxygen concentrators and nearly 150 regulators for Covid-19 patients.”
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An oxygen tanker carrying 28 MT oxygen reached Kota from Jamnagar by road on Thursday evening.
Senior divisional commercial manager, Kota railway division, Ajay Kumar Pal, said three tankers on the Oxygen Express each contained 12 MT of oxygen and another tanker has 15 MT. “The Oxygen Express covered 920 km in 20 hours to reach Kota from Jamnagar.”
{{/usCountry}}Senior divisional commercial manager, Kota railway division, Ajay Kumar Pal, said three tankers on the Oxygen Express each contained 12 MT of oxygen and another tanker has 15 MT. “The Oxygen Express covered 920 km in 20 hours to reach Kota from Jamnagar.”
{{/usCountry}}Kota district collector Ujjawal Singh Rathore said the tanker containing 15 MT oxygen has been allocated to Kota. Two tankers each containing 12 MT oxygen have been sent to Jaipur and Jhalawar districts.
“With the arrival of 15 MT medical-grade liquid oxygen through Oxygen Express and 28 MT by a tanker through road, Kota has got 43 MT liquid oxygen,” said Rathore.