Bhubaneswar: The Telangana government, which is grappling with a shortage of oxygen needed to breathe life into the COVID-affected patients in the state, has sought the help of the Air Force in this regard.
The IAF has deployed two C-17 aircrafts to airlift massive empty medical oxygen tankers from the southern state to Odisha after the Naveen Patnaik government assured of support.
Telangana Health Minister Etala Rajender on Friday tweeted that the state has taken the assistance of warplanes for procuring oxygen from Odisha.
Telangana Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar along with the Health Minister personally supervised the dispatch of eight empty oxygen tanks from Begumpet airport in Hyderabad to liquid oxygen plants in Odisha, to procure oxygen.
The Health Minister has sought the assistance of the Indian Air Force to save three days spent in the transportation of empty tankers by road.
As per the directions of CM Sri KCR, State Govt. has airlifted eight oxygen tankers to the liquid oxygen plants in Odisha State in Defence aircrafts. This is the first instance of using aircrafts for bringing oxygen and will reduce procurement time by three days. pic.twitter.com/jrlUV6qnRC
— Office of Chief Secretary, Telangana Govt. (@TelanganaCS) April 23, 2021
Earlier, Rajinder had requested the Centre to allocate oxygen from the plants close to the state and allow imports of COVID vaccines.
The refilled tankers will be sent back either by road or rail, stated media reports.
Odisha has assured to ensure the safe delivery of oxygen to Delhi, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Maharashtra, and Madhya Pradesh.
Chief ministers of Delhi and Maharashtra had thanked their Odisha counterpart Naveen Patnaik for facilitating the process. The Odisha police have created ‘green corridors’ to ensure timely delivery of the tankers.
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While two tankers left for Vishakhapatnam and Pune from Jajpur this morning, another had left for Vishakhapatnam from Angul last night.
Also Read: [Watch] Odisha Creates Corridors For Tankers Carrying Medical Oxygen To Vizag & Pune
It may be mentioned here that as liquid oxygen cannot be airlifted due to its qualities, hence the IAF’s logistics wing is helping in airlifting empty tankers thus reducing the one-way transportation time.
