TS airlifts empty oxygen tanks to Odisha

Hyderabad: EMPTY oxygen tankers from Telangana were airlifted to Odisha on Friday to bring back oxygen faster to the State. An Indian Air Force (IAF) plane was used to airlift the tankers to Odisha from Begumpet Airport in Hyderabad.

Health minister Eatala Rajender and Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar supervised the airlifting operation at the airport. The details like number of tankers and the aircraft pressed into service were not immediately available.

Industry minister KT Rama Rao took to Twitter to compliment the health minister and chief secretary for supervising the airlifting of oxygen tankers. He said this would save three days and many valuable lives. The minister, who himself tested positive for Covid on Friday, said this was the first time in India that oxygen tankers were being airlifted. This came a day after the health minister criticised the Centre for allocating oxygen to the State from Odisha as the tankers will have to cover a distance of over 1,300 km.