Railways to transport 4 Oxygen tankers from Raigarh to Delhi amid acute O2 shortage

Giving interim relief to the national capital, one 'Oxygen express' with four tankers totaling 70 MT will depart for Delhi from Raigarh's Jindal Steel Plant on Sunday night, informed Union Railways Minister Piyush Goyal. As of date Railways have transported 10 oxygen tankers carrying 150 MT oxygen, while 9 more are enroute to various states. Delhi govt has complained that inspite of being allotted 480 MT, it has received only 330-380 MT oxygen from Centre.

Railways: 4 tankers to reach Delhi

Railways briefs on 'Oxygen express'

Railway Board Chairman Suneet Sharma stated that nine oxygen tankers are being transported to Uttar Pradesh's Lucknow and Varanasi from Bokaro, carrying 150 MT of oxygen for the state. Railways is in touch with govts of Delhi, MP, Telangana & Andhra Pradesh for Oxygen Express needs for their states. Delhi has complained that it is unable to arrange for tankers for transporting oxygen, seeking Centre's help. The Centre, represented by SG Tushar Mehta in Delhi HC said, "All States and UTs are arranging on their own way. So far we have ensured that nobody in the country was left without oxygen. There is no need to be a cry baby".

With the Delhi govt stating that 450 MT of oxygen was not being supplied to the state, the state govt was told to arrange for tankers to transport the gas from Rourkela and Kalinga Nagar via trains by Delhi HC. The High Court noted that the supply of oxygen even at the allocated rate is not taking place in Delhi, oxygen is being transported from Durgapur. It also ordered all suppliers to provide complete details of oxygen they supply in Delhi and the hospitals they provide too, asking for Delhi police to provide protection to tankers. Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal has extended the current lockdown till May 3 and pleaded with all state CMs to send spare oxygen to the national capital.

India's oxygen shortage

Currently, India is grappling with acute oxygen supply with Delhi being hit the worst - atleast ten hospitals have moved the High Court seeking oxygen supply. While the Centre and Delhi govt have blamed each other for the ongoing oxygen crisis in the national capital, Railways has started 'Oxygen Express'  to transport liquid oxygen to the states via green corridors. These trains have already begun to arrive at UP, Maharashtra, Andhra from Odisha, Jharkhand and others. Delhi, which has demanded a consistent supply of 480 MT oxygen per day is yet to receive its quota as the state govt has not been able to provide tankers for transportation to the Railways. Delhi has demanded the Centre's help in procuring more oxygen, accusing UP and Haryana of obstructing its supply.  Except for nine sectors, supply of oxygen for industrial purposes by manufacturers and suppliers has been prohibited from April 22 as a temporary measure.