Dikhyaa Mohanty 
The surge of the second wave of the covid-19 pandemic in India has led to a critical situation and an extraordinary surge of the pandemic has also put tremendous pressure on the health infrastructure and capacity.
According to the report, both the public and private sectors are stretched to meet the medical requirements in these pandemic crises. With the current situation, the Indian Navy has launched an initiative –“Operation Samudra Setu II” which is a part of the ongoing national effort to fight the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Operation Samudra Setu II” will bring the much-needed oxygen and associated medical supplies from friendly foreign countries by sea. The Deputy Chief Admiral of the Indian Navy, M.S. Pawar stated that as many as nine warships have been diverted to various ports in the region extending from Kuwait in the west to Singapore in the east to bring in the much-needed oxygen and associated medical supplies.
Even the Indian navy ships have been deployed across the vast expanses of the Indian Ocean Region to meet the country’s critical oxygen requirements under challenging circumstances.
Indian Navy ship Talwar arrived at Mangalore port in Karnataka, carrying 54-tonne liquid medical oxygen (LMO) from Bahrain. The INS Airavat carrying eight cryogenic containers with a capacity of 20tonne each, 3,650 oxygen cylinders, 10,000 Rapid Antigen Test kits and other vital medical supplies departed Singapore for India on Wednesday morning.
Similarly, INS Kolkata, having picked up 54 MT LMO departed Kuwait on Wednesday afternoon. Earlier, the ship had picked up oxygen cylinders and medical supplies from Qatar. And three more naval ships reached Qatar and Kuwait on Wednesday, to bring oxygen from the Gulf countries.
Given their carrying capacity, long-range endurance, agility and versatility, naval ships have been able to undertake this mission in support of the nation’s fight against Covid-19.
Along with these facilities, navel establishments across the country are contributing to the local administrations in their efforts to this deadliest virus pandemic. Additional beds with oxygen support have also been made available for the civilians at the naval hospital. The Navy has also provided oxygen supplies by ships to various islands and placed a roving medical team to provide care for the population in L&M Islands.
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