Indore: Now instead of Jamnagar, the bulk supply of oxygen to the city will
come in from Bhilai Steel Plant, Raipur. For the first time, 3 empty
oxygen tankers were airlifted from the city and sent Raipur.
So far, the bulk supply of medical oxygen came in from Reliance's plant located in Jamnagar. Officials, however, didn't furnish any details as to why this change in plan happened. An Indian Air Force C-17 transport plane on Wednesday ferried three empty oxygen tankers from the city to Raipur for refilling. The aircraft took off from Jamnagar air base in Gujarat to reach Devi Ahilyabai Holkar Airport of the city and later flew with 3 empty tankers of 30, 24 and 16 ton capacity to Raipur in Chhattisgarh.
"It took nearly five hours to adjust the tankers," said Aryma
Sanyal, director of the Devi Ahilyabai Holkar Airport.
While around 10 tankers have been flown from the city since April 23,
but for the first time 3 tankers were ferried at a time, she added.
The tankers will be loaded with liquid oxygen at the Bhilai Steel
Plant, said MP Audyogik Vikas Nigam (MPIDC) Executive Director Rohan
Saxena.
It takes 20 hours for a tanker to reach Raipur by road while an IAF
aircraft took just an hour, he said.
The tankers will return to the city by road as oxygen-filled tankers
are not transported by air due to safety reasons, he added.
The IAF is carrying out such missions across the country as shortage
of medical oxygen are plaguing hospitals treating COVID-19 patients.
The city has been worst-hit by the pandemic in the State, with a caseload of
1,07,240 including 1,123 deaths.
