The Indian Air Force and Indian Navy are doing their best to ensure they supply oxygen and other medical equipment
Bengaluru: At a time when India requires more oxygen, the Indian Air Force (IAF) and Indian Navy (IN) continue to work round the clock to provide the all-important oxygen and other medical supplies to the civil administration. IAF has airlifted 403 oxygen containers of 6,856 Metric Tonnes (MT) capacity along with other equipment of 163 MT capacity, in 634 sorties from different parts of the country. The equipment and the oxygen have been distributed to Jamnagar, Bhopal, Chandigarh, Panagarh, Indore, Ranchi, Agra, Jodhpur, Begumpet, Bhubaneshwar, Pune, Surat, Raipur, Udaipur, Mumbai, Lucknow, Nagpur, Gwalior, Vijayawada, Baroda, Dimapur and Hindan, as per a statement from ministry of defence.
It is also to be noted that IAF aircraft have also conducted 98 sorties from different countries, airlifting 95 containers of 793 MT capacity and other equipment of 204 MT capacity. The countries from which the oxygen has been lifted are Singapore, Dubai, Thailand, Germany, Australia, Belgium, Indonesia, the Netherlands, United Kingdom, Israel and France.
When it comes to Navy, as part of operation ‘Samudra Setu II’, seven Indian Naval Ships have returned home with 260 MT of Liquid Medical Oxygen (LMO) from 13 containers for direct supply to various states, eight oxygen containers of total capacity 160 MT, approx.2,600oxygen filled cylinders and 3,150 empty cylinders for Oxygen from Persian Gulf and Southeast Asia. While INS Jalashwa is presently in Brunei, INS Shardul is scheduled to enter Kuwait on May 12, 2021.
DRDO, NHAI too step in:
While the IAF and Navy are doing their bit, the DRDO and NHAI have also stepped in.
DRDO has built hospitals in many different cities. It has also transferred the oxygen generation technology used in aircraft so that hospitals can use them to save the lives of people.
Even the NHAI has decided to do away with toll taxes with a view to quick delivery of the all-important gas.
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