Seven tankers set to leave from Mumbai for Vizag on Oxygen Express

For now, only seven tankers have been found to be of the right specifications to be loaded on a flat wagon train

The first seven tankers that will bring back Liquid Medical Oxygen (LMO) from Visakhapatnam, is all set to leave from Kalamboli. Of all the tankers that arrived at the station on Monday, only seven turned out to have the right specifications to be loaded on a flat wagon train. Each of the tankers will now return with about 15 to 16 tonnes of oxygen, totaling to about 100 tonnes for Mumbai.

Following requests by the state government to allow faster transportation of tankers carrying LMO, the railways identified Kalamboli and Boisar as the closest points to the city, from where the tankers can be loaded onto trains and sent to nearby states to bring back oxygen.

"No tankers were ready at Boisar, but seven were found to be as per the specifications at Kalamboli and those will leave tonight," a senior official said. The route for the train has also been set. It will travel via Vasai Road, Jalgaon, Nagpur, Raipur junction to the Visakhapatnam steel plant where the LMO will be loaded.

On April 17, a meeting was held between the Railway Board, Maharashtra transport department officials and representatives of the industry on issues related to transportation of LMO. For the past two days, railway and state transport department officials have been working on identifying road tankers of specific size that would fit into the rail wagons, procuring them and then sending them to get back oxygen.

Meanwhile, Subhash Gupta, Yatri Sangh Mumbai leader and member of National Railway Users Consultative Committee, said, "These are times of crisis, so why is the railways charging the state for this? The current situation is difficult for everyone and charging money for transporting life-supporting oxygen is just improper. Both the state and central governments should iron out these issues."