One Month And 19329 Tons Of Oxygen; Long Way To Go Odisha

Bhubaneswar: Ever since the second wave of the pandemic has hit India and the need for medical Oxygen in the country rose manifolds, Odisha stood as a savior and saved thousands of lives. In the last one month, more than 1054 tankers carrying Medical Grade Oxygen have crossed its borders to 15 states. Facilitated by Odisha Police, these tankers have carried more than 19329 tons of LMO to the neediest states at this crucial juncture. With this the state is fulfilling its commitment to the nation to stands united in this war against the pandemic.

It all started on 22nd April this year when Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik spoke to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and assured all help in supplying Oxygen to the states such as Delhi and Maharashtra. Since then, Odisha has made it a mission to facilitate the loading and transportation of Oxygen and provide a safe passage for the vehicles. Speaking to the Prime Minister, Naveen had said “It is a war-like situation and Odisha will extend all cooperation in the fight against COVID at the national level, including ramping up oxygen production to assist other States in this emergency situation,”.

Till date, in the last thirty days, Odisha has successfully sent 1054 tankers of Liquid Medical Oxygen to as many as 15 states and Union territories. A total of 19329 tons of medical oxygen have been escorted so far from Rourkela, Jajpur, Dhenkanal and Angul districts of Odisha by Odisha Police. While 445 tankers have moved from Rourkela, Dhenkanal, Jajpur and Angul have sent 265, 248 and 96 tankers respectively.

According to information shared by Odisha Police, 326 tankers with 6433 MT of oxygen were sent to Andhra Pradesh, 265 tankers with 4517 MT of oxygen were sent to Telengana. Tamil Nadu received 70 tankers filled with 1229 MT of medical oxygen. Similarly, Haryana received 147 tankers filled with 2714 MT of oxygen. Forty one tankers with 660 MT of oxygen were sent to Maharashtra, while 598 MT of oxygen filled in 37 tankers have left for Chhattisgarh. As many as 58 tankers have carried around 1154 MT of oxygen to Uttar Pradesh and 65 tankers with 1147 MT of oxygen were sent to Madhya Pradesh. 22 tankers with 410 MT of oxygen were sent to Delhi and 4 tankers with 107 MT oxygen were sent to Punjab in last 24 days. Karnataka, Bihar, Chandigarh and Rajasthan also received eight, three, two and two tankers respectively.

Based on the directives of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, a Special Cell was formed under Shri Y K Jethwa, ADG (L&O) as the Nodal Officer for coordinated action for loading and transportation of medical oxygen by Odisha to states facing deficit. A dedicated corridor has been set up with round the clock monitoring. All District SsP/DCsP and Range DIG/IG/CPs are supervising the movement personally within their jurisdictions. Odisha Police is committed to ensure that there is no delay in loading and transporting so as to promptly serve thousands of needy patients of the country.

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