The Indian Railways has proved its mettle in the transportation of medical-grade oxygen to several parts of the country, including Lucknow, amid rampant COVID spread. It is continuously providing Liquid Medical Oxygen (LMO) to all regions in India facing a paucity, in the backdrop of high demand by means of the Oxygen Express trains. A listed beneficiary of this RoRo service, Lucknow welcomed the seventh such rail on Saturday, packed with 3 LMO tankers.
Augmenting an increased supply of oxygen in Lucknow
The Centre-approved Oxygen Express train has been running continuous runs between Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh to meet the severe oxygen demand of COVID patients in Lucknow and several other districts. While the state has received over 350 metric tonnes of LMO via 6 such services in the past week, “In order to further boost up the oxygen supply, the UP government has also requested to transport 10 ft ISO containers loaded with liquid oxygen from Jamshedpur to Lucknow”, a Railway Ministry spokesperson stated.
To facilitate the transport of ISO containers, additional and careful planning is required the official added. At present, the railway authorities are working to chart the best possible options to move these parcels safely and securely. It is expected that ISO containers carrying liquid medical oxygen will start loading today, at Jamshedpur.
Reportedly, the 8th oxygen service with 3 LMO tankers, has further been sent to the Bokaro Steel Plant on Saturday afternoon, for refilling purposes. This too is expected to arrive shortly at Lucknow’s Charbagh Station via the green corridor. The spokesperson stated that “So far, Indian Railways has delivered more than 664 metric tonnes LMO to Maharashtra (174 MT), Uttar Pradesh (356.47 MT), Madhya Pradesh (64 MT) and Delhi (70 MT)”. Haryana and Telangana will start receiving their Oxygen Express soon, he added.
