The train arrived from Bokaro in Jharkhand. In view of the high demand for oxygen in the country following a record spike in coronavirus cases, the Railways has decided to run Oxygen Express trains to transport liquid medical oxygen and oxygen cylinders across the country. Tankers are being transported on flat wagons by the trains for quick supply of medical oxygen. Two tankers of medical oxygen arrived in Lucknow around 6.30 am while one was offloaded in Varanasi, Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Awanish Kumar Awasthi told PTI. Each tanker has a capacity of 15,000 litres, he said, adding that oxygen brought by two tankers may be used in Lucknow.
Amid acute shortage of medical
oxygen due to a surge in coronavirus cases, vehicles and individuals are queuing up outside the BHEL s plant here to get the empty cylinders refilled with the life-saving gas. Due to the rising demand, the Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited s Bhopal unit has been functioning round-the-clock to provide oxygen to citizens, an official said. According to eyewitnesses, people are queuing up in large numbers to get the oxygen cylinders refilled. The queue of people and hospital representatives with cylinders is so long that they have to wait for 6-7 hours for their turn to come, one of the eyewitnesses said.
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday sent an SOS to his counterparts in other states seeking their help in boosting medical oxygen supply in the national capital on a day 20 COVID patients died at a private hospital as it was waiting for its oxygen to be replenished. As the desperate hunt for the life-saving gas continued in the national capital amid rising coronavirus cases, the chief minister told the states that despite the central government s help, the severity of COVID-19 was such that all available resources were proving to be inadequate. I would be grateful if you could provide us with any oxygen, along with tankers, from your state or any organization in your state. Kindly treat this as an SOS, Kejriwal wrote in his letter to the chief ministers.
Raising alarm that a big tragedy may happen due to oxygen shortage in hospitals during the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday said the Centre should take over all oxygen plants through the Army. In a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the COVID-19 situation, Kejriwal requested him to direct chief ministers of all states to ensure smooth movement of oxygen tankers coming to the national capital. People in major pain due to oxygen shortage. We fear a big tragedy may happen due to oxygen shortage and we will never be able to forgive ourselves. I request you with folded hands to direct all CMs to ensure smooth movement of oxygen tankers coming to Delhi, he said during the meeting.