Sixth Oxygen Express Chugs Into Karnataka, 7th & 8th On Their Way
Karnataka battling a strong second surge of the pandemic received its sixth oxygen express, courtesy Indian Railways. The special train reached ICD Whitefield, Bengaluru at 8.40am on May 21. It had started from Kanalus, Jamnagar in Gujarat on May 20. Indian Railways created a signal-free ‘Green Corridor’ t enable the swift and almost non-interrupted run of the train transporting life-saving Oxygen Express. This train had a stoppage free run without having to wait for the crossing/passage of another train.
The train carried four cryogenic containers transporting 72.94 tonnes of liquid medical oxygen (LMO). So far, Karnataka has received 712.94 tonnes of LMO by Rail. Indian Railways has so far run 208 Oxygen Expresses and transported nearly 13319 tonnes of LMO in 814 tankers to all over the country to assist state governments in their fight against Covid -19. The railway ministry has accorded special priority for running these trains given the scale of the pandemic across India.
TWO MORE TRAINS ON THEIR WAY
Authorities from South Western Railway that is coordinating arrival of these trains at ICD Whitefield under Bengaluru division said two more Oxygen Expresses are also on the way to Karnataka. While the 7th Oxygen Express carrying 120 tonnes LMO in 6 containers has departed from Tatanagar, Jharkhand on May 20, the 8th Oxygen Express carrying 109.2 tonnes of LMO in six containers departed Kanalus, Jamnagar on May 20 and reach Whitefield in the early hours of May 22.
As of 2pm on May 21, 208 Oxygen Expresses (Update) run by Indian Railways have completed their journey so far and brought relief to various states and 13 loaded Oxygen Expresses were on run with more than 1018 MT of LMO. Oxygen Expresses have been delivering nearly 800 MT of LMO to the Nation each day for the last few days and helped meet the LMO needs of 13 states such as Uttarakhand, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu among others.
This post has been published in arrangement with Jaideep J Shenoy
