BHUBANESWAR : A day after Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik assured Prime Minister Narendra Modi to help needy states with oxygen, 15 tankers containing over 250 tonne medical oxygen were sent to different cities in the country by the State government in the last 24 hours.
The tankers were sent from Rourkela, Jajpur and Angul districts to Visakhapatnam, Hyderabad, Indore, Pune, Mumbai and Nagpur. Official sources said three more tankers of medical oxygen will be sent to Visakhapatnam from Angul and Jajpur besides, one tanker of oxygen will leave for Ghaziabad from Jajpur on Friday night, said an official.
Three Indian Air Force planes also airlifted eight empty oxygen tankers from Hyderabad and arrived at Biju Patnaik International Airport here for refill on Friday. “One flight arrived with an empty oxygen tanker and the second flight with three empty tankers reached during the day. The third flight arrived with four empty oxygen tankers at 8.30 pm on Friday,” said the official. The tankers will return by road after loading oxygen from various plants in Odisha.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had also said that his government is making efforts to airlift its enhanced quota of oxygen supply from Odisha. A dedicated corridor has been set-up by Odisha Police to ensure unhindered movement of medical oxygen supplies. Odisha government has formed a special cell under ADG YK Jethwa as its nodal officer to oversee the supply operations.
Bhubaneswar-Cuttack Police Commissioner, IGs, DIGs and SPs/DCPs are supervising the movement of the medical oxygen under their respective jurisdictions. “The police are making special traffic arrangements to ensure smooth supply of medical oxygen. The special cell is primarily coordinating with Rourkela, Jharsuguda, Angul and Jajpur SPs as they are the loading points of the medical oxygen,” said Jethwa.
POLICE AID
Dedicated corridor to ensure unhindered movement of oxygen tankers
Special cell monitoring situation at oxygen loading points
Bhubaneswar-Cuttack Police Commissioner, IGs, DIGs and SPs/DCPs supervising movement of the medical oxygen