On Friday, an Indian Air Force C-17 transport plane took an empty oxygen tanker from Indore in Madhya Pradesh to Jamnagar in neighbouring Gujarat, an official said.
The 30 metric tonne-capacity tanker will be returned to Indore by road after refilling, he added.
“The IAF plane landed at Indore airport at 3:15 pm and left for Jamnagar with the tanker soon after,” the official said.
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan started the airlifting of empty tankers to oxygen filling sites using IAF planes after he urged the centre to help his state fight a surge in COVID-19 cases, he said.
‘As the rear portion of the tanker could not enter the plane’s cargo hold properly, the tanker’s mudguard was removed’, said Indore airport director Aryama Sanyal.
The aircraft will return to Indore on Saturday to transport another empty tanker, Aryama Sanyal added.
Rohan Saxena, the district official overseeing the operation, said an oxygen tanker takes 20 hours to reach Jamnagar from Indore by road, while the plane will cover the distance in an hour.
Madhya Pradesh on Friday recorded 13,590 coronavirus cases, 1,206 more than on Thursday.
The IAF on Friday tweeted that its C-17 and IL-76 aircraft airlifted empty oxygen cylinders for refiling across the country.
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