In this hour of COVID-19 crisis, where shortage of medical oxygen has become the biggest cause of suffering for hundreds and thousands of patients battling the coronavirus and their distraught family members, India has found a friend in Singapore.
Courtesy a bilateral and multi-agency effort, a C-17 transport aircraft of the Indian Air Force (IAF) lifted four cryogenic oxygen containers from Singapore’s Changi Airport. The containers will be landing at the Panagarh airbase by Saturday evening. The aircraft had landed in Singapore on Saturday morning.
#WATCH | #India gets #Oxygen from #Singapore, video of Oxygen containers being loaded at #Changi airport@IndiainSingapor @PIBHomeAffairs @MEAIndia @SGinIndia @ChangiAirport @SpokespersonMoD @IAF_MCC @DefenceMinIndia pic.twitter.com/EYU1ZkY6tO
— NewsMobile (@NewsMobileIndia) April 24, 2021
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh took to Twitter and said, “The Indian Air Force is taking sorties to reduce the transportation time of Oxygen and other critical supplies. One C-17 has reached Changi Airport in Singapore today. These containers of cryogenic oxygen tanks will help boosting the oxygen supply in the country.”
The Indian Air Force tweeted on Saturday evening to say that the oxygen contauners had arrived at Panagarh.
Four cryogenic oxygen containers have arrived in India at Panagarh Air Base from Singapore. The containers were air lifted in an IAF C-17 aircraft from @ChangiAirport in Singapore earlier this morning. pic.twitter.com/vgNxeQe4Hd
— Indian Air Force (@IAF_MCC) April 24, 2021
From Panagarh, the cryogenic oxygen containers will be routed by road to several steel plants in the nearby states of Chhatisgarh and Odisha for filling oxygen for further supplies to several states in urgent need.
We stand with India in its fight against Covid-19. Through a bilateral and multi-agency effort, an @IAF_MCC transport plane picked up 4 cryogenic oxygen containers at @ChangiAirport in Singapore this morning. 🇸🇬🤝🇮🇳 @PMOIndia @MEAIndia @SpokespersonMoD @IndiainSingapor pic.twitter.com/mU59w1yAw6
— Singapore in India (@SGinIndia) April 24, 2021
To tide over the oxygen crisis, Centre is likely to import 50,000 metric tonnes of medical oxygen and Ministry of External Affairs is reportedly exploring possible routes for import through its foreign missions. India is also likely to airlift 23 mobile oxygen generation plants from Germany.
The IAF on its part is already transporting life saving oxygen within the country. Two empty cryogenic oxygen containers are being transported from Jodhpur to Jamnagar by IAF C-17 heavy-lift transports. Another C-17 aircraft from the Hindan airbase also reached Pune on Saturday morning. It is bound for Jamnagar airbase with two empty container trucks for liquid oxygen.
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