Railways So Far Delivered Over 21,392 Tonnes Of Liquid Medical Oxygen To 15 States

New Delhi: The Railways has delivered over 21,392 tonnes of liquid medical oxygen in more than 1,274 tankers to 15 states, the national transporter said Sunday amid the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. So far, 313 Oxygen Express trains have completed their journey while five loaded trains are on the run with more than 406 tonnes of liquid medical oxygen in 23 tankers. Liquid Medical Oxygen delivery to Haryana and Karnataka has crossed 2,000 tonnes each while Tamil Nadu and Telangana each have received over 1,800 tonnes of the life-saving gas. Oxygen Express trains started their deliveries on April 24 with Maharashtra receiving a load of 126 tonnes.

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These freight trains have reached out 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 3,797 tonnes in Uttar Pradesh, 656 tonnes in Madhya Pradesh, 5,476 tonnes in Delhi, 2,023 tonnes in Haryana, 98 tonnes in Rajasthan, 2,115 tonnes in Karnataka, 320 tonnes in Uttarakhand, 1,808 tonnes in Tamil Nadu, 1,738 tonnes in Andhra Pradesh, 225 tonnes in Punjab, 380 tonnes in Kerala, 1,858 tonnes in Telangana, 38 tonnes in Jharkhand and 240 tonnes in Assam.

Till now, Oxygen Express trains offloaded liquid medical oxygen in 39 cities, including Lucknow, Varanasi, Kanpur, Bareilly, Gorakhpur and Agra in Uttar Pradesh, Sagar, Jabalpur, Katni and Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh, Nagpur, Nashik, Pune, Mumbai and Solapur in Maharashtra, Hyderabad in Telangana, and Faridabad and Gurgaon in Haryana. The Indian Railways has mapped different routes with oxygen supply locations and keeps itself ready with any emerging need of the states which provide tankers to the national transporter for bringing the life-saving gas amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Crisscrossing the country, the Railways is picking up oxygen from places like Hapa, Baroda and Mundra in the west and Rourkela, Durgapur, Tatanagar, and 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.

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(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

NDTV – Dettol Banega Swasth India campaign is an extension of the five-year-old Banega Swachh India initiative helmed by Campaign Ambassador Amitabh Bachchan. It aims to spread awareness about critical health issues facing the country. In wake of the current COVID-19 pandemic, the need for WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) is reaffirmed as handwashing is one of the ways to prevent Coronavirus infection and other diseases. The campaign highlights the importance of nutrition and healthcare for women and children to prevent maternal and child mortality, fight malnutrition, stunting, wasting, anaemia and disease prevention through vaccines. Importance of programmes like Public Distribution System (PDS), Mid-day Meal Scheme, POSHAN Abhiyan and the role of Aganwadis and ASHA workers are also covered. Only a Swachh or clean India where toilets are used and open defecation free (ODF) status achieved as part of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014, can eradicate diseases like diahorrea and become a Swasth or healthy India. The campaign will continue to cover issues like air pollution, waste management, plastic ban, manual scavenging and sanitation workers and menstrual hygiene.