E-Paper
Railways increase supply of oxygen to Delhi, delivers 707 MT amid shortage
The move is expected to give a breather to the national capital struggling with acute shortage of oxygen supply since the past few weeks. The Delhi government has demanded 976 MT of medical oxygen to add 1,200 ICU and 15,000 oxygen beds amid a massive surge in Covid-19 cases.
Delhi has been given 707 MT of oxygen via Oxygen Express trains by the Railways since the trains began operating last month while Uttar Pradesh received 641 MT, according to data from the railway ministry.
In a significant ramp up of supply to the national capital over the past two days, the national carrier has been delivering more than 200 MT liquid oxygen daily to Delhi since Monday amid acute shortage.
Among other states Delhi has received the maximum supply till now followed by 174 MT oxygen to Maharashtra, 641 MT to UP, 190 MT to MP, 229MT to Haryana so far, according to the ministry of railways.
“Overcoming all hurdles and finding new solutions, Indian Railways is continuing its journey of bringing relief by delivering liquid medical oxygen to various states across the country. So far, Indian Railways has delivered 2067MT (approx.) of LMO in 137 tankers to various states across the country,” the ministry said in a statement on Wednesday morning.
34 Oxygen Express trains have already completed their journey so far and have delivered more than 2067 metric tonnes liquid medical oxygen (LMO) to various states. Till Tuesday evening, 10 oxygen express trains with 37 tankers on board were en route to various states while 58 trains have completed their journey so far.
On Monday, Delhi received 205 MT and on Tuesday morning it received 244 MT of liquid medical oxygen, according to the ministry.
The move is expected to give a breather to the national capital struggling with acute shortage of oxygen supply since the past few weeks. The Delhi government has demanded 976 MT of medical oxygen to add 1,200 ICU and 15,000 oxygen beds.
Several hospitals in Delhi sent out desperate calls to authorities to replenish their oxygen supplies when they dropped precariously, threatening lives as the health infrastructure was crumbling under the pressure of an unprecedented rise in the number of Covid-19 patients requiring oxygen or ICU support.
The Central government last week directed states to ensure free movement of vehicles carrying oxygen amid reports of some states diverting the vehicles for local use even as hospitals sent out frantic appeals for emergency supplies.
Railways has also said that the decision for allocating oxygen supply to states comes under the Empowered Group 2 (EG2), a group formed by the PMO comprising officials from different ministries and experts. The group has been given the job of mapping the sources of medical oxygen and their production capacity to match the requirement of 12 high-burden states.
