Oxygen Express train carrying three tankers of oxygen reaches UP
What's the story
An Oxygen Express train carrying three tankers of liquid medical oxygen arrived in Uttar Pradesh on Saturday morning as the state battles a surge in coronavirus cases.
In view of the high demand for oxygen in India following a record spike in coronavirus cases, the railways has decided to run Oxygen Express trains to transport liquid medical oxygen and oxygen cylinders across the country.
Medical oxygen
Each truck has capacity of holding 15,000 liters of oxygen
Roll-on-roll-off trucks are being transported on flat wagons by the trains for the quick supply of medical oxygen.
"Two trucks of medical oxygen arrived in Lucknow around 6:30 am while one truck was offloaded in Varanasi. Each truck has a capacity of containing 15,000 liters of medical oxygen," Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Awanish Kumar Awasthi told PTI.
Details
Both the trucks may be used for Lucknow: Awasthi
He said both the trucks may be used for Lucknow and a decision will be taken soon.
The train arrived from Bokaro in Jharkhand.
"The arrival of the two trucks of medical oxygen will meet around half the demand of Lucknow for Saturday. The state capital will now be in a better position," Awasthi said.
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Oxygen Express will ease current situation in UP: Health Minister
UP Health Minister Jai Pratap Singh said, "The arrival of Oxygen Express will significantly ease the current situation in the state." The railways on Wednesday had said it will run its second Oxygen Express to UP after a request was received from the state government.
COVID-19
UP logged record single-day spike of 34,379 cases on Thursday
Meanwhile, a record single-day spike of 34,379 COVID-19 cases and 195 fatalities pushed Uttar Pradesh's infection tally to 9,76,765 and the death toll due to the disease to 10,541, the state government said on Thursday.
As many as 16,514 patients recovered from the disease in the state in a span of 24 hours.
On Wednesday, the state had registered 33,214 cases and 187 deaths.