Railways delivered more than 20,770 tonnes of oxygen to 15 states over last month

PTI, May 29, 2021, 7:08 PM IST

New Delhi: The Indian Railways has delivered over 20,770 tonnes of liquid medical oxygen to 15 states over the last month to augment the government’s efforts in the fight against coronavirus, the national transporter said on Saturday.

While 305 ‘Oxygen Express’ trains have completed their journey so far, six loaded trains are on the run with more than 420 tonnes of liquid medical oxygen in 26 tankers.

Assam received its third Oxygen Express on Saturday with 80 tonnes of liquid medical oxygen in four tankers.

Among the southern states, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Telangana have received over 1,600 tonnes of liquid medical oxygen each.

Over 20,770 tonnes of liquid medical oxygen was delivered to 39 cities in 15 states in more than 1,237 tankers over the last month, according to the national transporter.

‘Oxygen Express’ trains started their deliveries 35 days back on April 24 in Maharashtra with a load of 126 tonnes.

The trains delivered liquid medical oxygen to 15 states — Uttarakhand, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Haryana, Telangana, Punjab, Kerala, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand and Assam.

So far, 614 tonnes of oxygen has been offloaded in Maharashtra, nearly 3,731 tonnes in Uttar Pradesh, 656 tonnes in Madhya Pradesh, 5,327 tonnes in Delhi, 1,967 tonnes in Haryana, 98 tonnes in Rajasthan, 1,994 tonnes in Karnataka, 320 tonnes in Uttarakhand, 1,735 tonne in Tamil Nadu, 1,668 tonnes in Andhra Pradesh, 225 tonnes in Punjab, 380 tonnes in Kerala, 1,770 tonnes in Telangana, 38 tonnes in Jharkhand and 240 tonnes in Assam.

The railways has mapped different routes with oxygen supply locations and keeps itself ready with any emerging need of the states. The states provide tankers to the Indian Railways for bringing liquid medical oxygen.

Criss-crossing the country, the Indian Railways is picking up oxygen from places like Hapa, Baroda, Mundra in the west and Rourkela, Durgapur, Tatanagar, Angul in the east and then delivering it to Uttarakhand, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Haryana, Telangana, Punjab, Kerala, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Assam in complex operational route planning scenarios.