Combating COVID-19: Coordinating with state govt's for supplying medical equipment's, essentials, says Civil Aviation Ministry

The Ministry of Civil Aviation on Monday said that it is coordinating with the state governments for the supply of medical equipment and essential items needed for the protection against the coronavirus and for the testing of COVID-19.

"Based on requirements received from various states on urgent basis, the senior officials of the Ministry coordinate with supply agencies for providing required material which can be further transported to the desired destinations. Air India and Alliance Air flights are being operated to carry out the necessary supply operations across the country," said Ministry of Civil Aviation in a release.

The agencies authorised by the Ministry to carry shipment on these flights contact the concerned officials of their region and coordinate for timely delivery/ receipt of shipments.

"In order to cater to eastern and north eastern parts of the country, an Alliance Air flight from Delhi to Kolkata carried shipments for Kolkata, Guwahati, Dibrugarh and Agartala on March 29, 2020. In northern region, IAF flight from Delhi to Chandigarh to Leh carried ICMR VTM kits and other essential cargo," the release added.

Alliance Air transferred Pune shipment to Mumbai on Air India flight.

The Ministry further said: "(Mumbai -Delhi-Hyderabad-Chennai-Mumbai and Hyderabad-Coimbatore)- Flights on this route carried and transported ICMR kits of Shimla, Rishikesh, Lucknow and Imphal from Pune to Delhi. ICMR kits were carried to Chennai. A consignment of Hyderabad was delivered. Consignments of Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry were also delivered. A consignment of Ministry of Textiles was moved to Coimbatore."

The information sharing, answering of queries and the work at ground is going on "round the clock" for delivering the supplies to the destinations in a "timely manner so the efforts to fight the COVID-19 are multiplied and supplemented."

According to the Ministry of Health, the total number of cases with COVID-19 rose to 1071 in India on Monday.

The country is under a 21-day lockdown to check the spread of the virus.