Telangana ropes in IAF freighters to ferry oxygen from Odisha

Hyderabad, April 23 : In view of the pressingrequirement of medical oxygen, Telangana government has hiredtwo cargo aircraft of the Indian Air Force to ferry eightempty tankers to Odisha to bring liquid oxygen, HealthMinister Etela Rajender said on Friday.

The oxygen are to be brought from the steelplants in Rourkela and Angul, Odisha.

The two C-17 aircraft had left for Odisha from BegumpetAirport and the empty tankers would be filled with liquidoxygen and return here by road thus saving three days ofjourney time, he said.

Peoples lives are precious. As per the instructionsof the Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao, we hired twodefence aircraft to send oxygen tankers to Odisha which willbring oxygen to Telangana by road. Each flight carries fourempty tankers, Rajender said.

He said there is no shortage of oxygen in anygovernment hospitals, though there may be scarcity in one ortwo in private hospitals.

An official press release from the state governmentsaid Rajender along with the Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar andother officials were present at the Begumpet airport tooversee the airlifting operations.

The aircaft, deployed for the purpose, were commanded byWing Commander Chaitanya and Wing Commander Nijhawan, therelease said.

With the airlifting of tankers, the travel time isreduced by three days and would also go a long way in seeingthat shortage of oxygen for COVID-19 patients wouldbe overcome for at least a few days, the release furthersaid.

The filled tankers are expected to return to the stateby April 27, another release said. PTI GDKNVG NVG

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