News Brief

Adding 'Shakti' To Fight Against Covid: All-Female Crew Pilots Oxygen Express To Bengaluru

Arun Kumar Das

May 23, 2021, 10:47 AM | Updated 10:47 AM IST


A woman loco-pilot part of the team that steered the Oxygen Express from Jolarpettai to Bengaluru.
A woman loco-pilot part of the team that steered the Oxygen Express from Jolarpettai to Bengaluru.
  • According to the Railways, loco pilot Sireesha Gajini and assistant loco pilot Aparna piloted the Oxygen Express from Jolarpettai to Whitefield, Bengaluru.
  • The seventh Oxygen Express to Karnataka piloted by an all-female crew arrived in Bangalore with 120 tonnes of medical oxygen from Jamshedpur in Jharkhand recently.

    According to the Railways, loco pilot Sireesha Gajini and assistant loco pilot Aparna piloted the Oxygen Express from Jolarpettai to Whitefield, Bengaluru.

    "The Oxygen Express train piloted by an all-female crew will ensure continued supply of oxygen for Covid-19 patients in the State," Railway Minister Piyush Goyal tweeted on Saturday.

    The state government has sought 1,200 metric tonnes of oxygen daily in view of rising Covid cases in the state.

    Meanwhile, on a Mission Mode, the Railways delivered nearly 14,500 MT of Liquid Medical Oxygen in more than 884 tankers by 224 Oxygen Expresses
    across the country.

    Oxygen relief by Oxygen Expresses has reached 13 states including Uttarakhand, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Haryana, Telangana, Punjab, Kerala, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh.

    According to data, 614 MT of Oxygen has been offloaded in Maharashtra, nearly 3,463 MT in UP, 566 MT in MP, 4,278 MT in Delhi, 1,698 MT in Haryana, 98 MT in Rajasthan, 943 MT in Karnataka, 320 MT in Uttarakhand, 769 MT in Tamil Nadu, 571 MT in Andhra Pradesh, 153 MT in Punjab, 246 MT in Kerala and 772 MT in Telangana.

    Arun Kumar Das is a senior journalist covering railways. He can be contacted at akdas2005@gmail.com.


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