IAF, Indian Navy rise to the challenge of oxygen crisis; read report

New Delhi: Indian Air Force and Indian Navy are working tirelessly to provide logistic support to shore up medical supplies to tackle the current COVID-19 situation. As on early hours of May 10, the IAF aircraft carried out 534 sorties from various parts of the country, airlifting 336 oxygen containers of the total capacity of 6,420 metric tonnes (MT) and other medical supplies and equipment. The cities covered are Jamnagar, Bhopal, Chandigarh, Panagarh, Indore, Ranchi, Agra, Jodhpur, Begumpet, Bhubaneshwar, Pune, Surat, Raipur, Udaipur, Mumbai, Lucknow, Nagpur, Gwalior, Vijayawada, Baroda, Dimapur and Hindan.

The IAF aircraft also carried out 84 international sorties, airlifting 81 cryogenic oxygen storage containers of the total capacity of 1,407 MT along with 1,252 empty oxygen cylinders, 705 oxygen concentrators and Zeolite (respiratory oxygen raw material). The equipment has been procured from Singapore, Dubai, Thailand, United Kingdom, Germany, Belgium, Australia, Indonesia and Israel.

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As part of operation 'Samudra Setu II,' Indian Naval Ships INS Airavat, INS Trikandand INS Kolkata arrived back home with critical COVID-19 medical stores from friendly foreign countries on May 10. Ins Talwar had arrived on May 05. The details are as follows:- 

• INS Airavat has carried out 8 Cryogenic Oxygen Tanks, 3,898 Oxygen cylinders and other critical COVID-19 medical stores from Singapore to Visakhapatnam on May 10.
• INS Trikand has carried out 40 MT Liquid Oxygen (Liquid Medical Oxygen cryogenic containers) from Doha, Qatar to Mumbai on May 10.
• INS Kolkata has carried out 400 Oxygen Cylinders and 2 nos 27-MT Liquid Medical Oxygen Containers from Doha, Qatar & Kuwait to New Mangalore Port on May 10.
• INS Talwar has carried out 2 nos. 27-MT oxygen containers from Bahrain to New Mangalore Port on May 05.

INS Kochi, INS Tabar, INS Jalashwa and INS Shardulare expected to arrive home soon with critical COVID-19 medical stores, including oxygen tankers and cylinders, from friendly foreign countries.

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