15 tankers with 250MT of oxygen leave Odisha for states most in need

BHUBANESWAR: Fifteen tankers containing more than 250 metric tonne of medical oxygen left Odisha late on Thursday night for various states, including Maharashtra, that have been reeling from shortage of the lifesaving gas.
“Dedicated green corridors were formed by Odisha Police for prompt and unhindered movement of the tankers for the intended locations,” ADG (law and order) Y K Jethwa, who has been made nodal officer for loading and transportation of medical oxygen from the state, said.
All the tankers were provided with police escort to ensure that they are not held up anywhere en route. The supply of oxygen from Odisha comes after chief minister Naveen Patnaik on Friday spoke to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal assuring all possible support in the fight against Covid.
Oxygen from Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP), Tata Steel’s Jajpur plant and JSPL plant from Angul were despatched to Delhi, Visakhapatnam (in Andhra Pradesh), Hyderabad (Telangana), Indore (Madhya Pradesh) besides Pune, Mumbai and Nagpur (Maharashtra).
Four more tankers — two from Angul to Visakhapatnam and two from Jajpur to Ghaziabad and Visakhapatnam — were scheduled to leave soon.
On Thursday, RSP had sent 252.32 MT liquid medical oxygen (LMO) to various states including 200.59 MT to Andhra Pradesh, 22.92 MT to Delhi, 18.16 MT to Uttar Pradesh besides supplying 10.65 MT to meet the needs in Odisha.