The second wave of the pandemic has severely struck India and everywhere there can be seen a crisis of medical oxygen in the hospitals. However, Indian Railway's initiative of 'Oxygen Express ' has awakened a new hope among the people.
As per media reports, Indian Railways has taken an initiative to ferry oxygen from one region to another via trains to overcome this demand for oxygen which is critical in the treatment of corona virus patients. Oxygen is produced in the steel plants for industrial purposes. Government has recently given a nod for using this oxygen for medical purposes and Indian Railways is ferrying these oxygen supplies through green corridors for faster delivery to meet this high demand.
The first ray of hope
The first Oxygen express successfully delivered seven liquid oxygen tankers from Vishakhapatnam to Maharashtra on 23rd of April,2021. The train was carrying 100 tonnes of medical liquid oxygen from Rastriya Ispat Nigam Limited in Vishakhapatnam from where it had begun its journey on 22nd of April,2021.This brought relief to the state which was dealing with several corona virus patients and a shortage of oxygen supplies. The second oxygen express transported three oxygen tankers from Bokaro steel plant, Jharkhand to Uttar Pradesh.
Media report states that these tankers are roll-on-roll off type and are being transported by flat wagons. Over the next few days 'Oxygen Express ' shall run across the country and transport oxygen from Visakhapatnam, Jamshedpur, Rourkela and Bokaro.
As suggested by media reports, transportation of liquid oxygen by trains is a hazardous affair and Indian railways has handled the situation meticulously within a very short period of time. As soon as Indian Railways got a request for the oxygen transportation, ramps were built at several places to facilitate this activity. The ramp at Kalamboli was built in an astonishing time span of only twenty four hours. Also, maps of the entire route had to be created considering all geographical features of the route to facilitate the carrying of such huge oxygen tankers.
We must all laud at the efforts of the Indian railways in facilitating the transportation of the life saving oxygen. With the 'Oxygen Express' running across the country to provide us with Oxygen, we can now hope for victory in this war against the pandemic.
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