Railways' Oxygen Express delivers 150 tonnes of Oxygen in 24 hours amid shortage

With the growing number of COVID-19 cases, the need for medical oxygen has been the one most felt. Meeting this need a bit, the Ministry of Railways on Saturday, delivered nearly 150 tonnes of Liquid Medical Oxygen through its 'Oxygen Express' initiative. A part of the said quantity of oxygen was offloaded at Nashik for Maharashtra while another part was offloaded at Lucknow for Uttar Pradesh. 

The Indian Railways took to their official Twitter handle to share the news. "Oxygen Expresses deliver nearly 150 tonnes of Oxygen in last 24 hours. Oxygen Expresses arrive at Nashik & Lucknow with Liquid Medical Oxygen for Maharashtra and UP respectively," the tweet shared by the Ministry read. 

On Friday, the first Oxygen Express had reached Nagpur and offloaded three Tankers of oxygen. Outlining that the Indian Railways is working tirelessly to ensure that oxygen is supplied to corona patients in time across the country, the ministry had written, "First Oxygen Express loaded with Liquid Medical Oxygen tankers from Vizag has reached Nagpur. 3 Tankers have been offloaded at Nagpur, next destination is Nashik."

Railways running 'Oxygen Express'

In a bid to help in the acute crisis of oxygen shortage, the Railway on April 18 decided to run 'Oxygen Express'. Through this initiative, which came as a response to Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra government's appeal, the Railways is transporting tankers filled with Liquid Medical Oxygen at Vishakhapatnam and Bokaro through its special Ro-Ro service to State and Union Territories facing acute shortage of oxygen supply. A green corridor has been prepared for the movement of these special trains. 

The Ministry took to the official Twitter handle to announce the news. 

COVID-19 Tally

For the third consecutive day, India breached the 3-lakh mark and reported 3.46 lakh fresh COVID-19 cases, the highest single-day spike registered by any country in the world. With this, the cumulative count of India has swollen up to 1.66 crore. The death toll stands at 1.89 lakh, with 2,624 deaths reported in the last 24 hours. Worldwide, over 14 crore cases have been recorded so far while 30 lakh people have lost their lives. 

(Credit-Railmininida/Twitter)