Ola, GiveIndia to give free oxygen concentrators at doorstep in Bengaluru
Bengaluru, May 12: O2ForIndia, an initiative to provide oxygen concentrators free of cost through Ola app for home-isolated COVID-19 patients, was launched on Wednesday.
Speaking after launching the Ola Foundation-GiveIndia Foundation initiative, Deputy Chief Minister and State COVID task force head C N Ashwath Narayana, said to start with, this service was being implemented at Malleshwaram and Koramangala here.
The initiative would be expanded throughout the city and also to all the places where Ola is operating, Narayana's office quoted him as saying in a statement.
"This will be given only for those whose oxygen saturation is below 94. This is not required and will not be given for those whose oxygen-level is above 94," according to him.
The service is rolled out in Bengaluru with an initial set of 500 oxygen concentrators.
Ola and GiveIndia would scale it up across the country with upto 10,000 concentrators in the coming weeks, Narayana said.
Those who require oxygen (oxygen saturation below 94) need to log into the Ola app and request for an oxygen concentrator by providing a few basic details.
Once submitted, the request would be validated and Ola would then pick up the concentrator via one of its cabs with a specially trained driver and bring it to the doorstep of those who placed request within 30 minutes.
The home-isolated beneficiary shall have to pay a refundable amount of Rs 5,000 per concentrator.
Once the patient gets better and no longer requires the concentrator, Ola would pick up the device and return it to GiveIndia to give it to the next patient who needs it.
This entire service process would be seamless and the oxygen concentrator as well as the doorstep delivery and pickup would be completely free, the statement said.
Ola's Chief Operating Officer Gaurav Porwal said, Were beginning in Bengaluru today and will be rolling this out across the country with upto 10,000 concentrators soon".
Through this initiative, we will provide oxygen concentrators to those recovering or isolating at home, right at their doorstep, said K P Vinod, MD, Alliances and Government Partnerships, GiveIndia.
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Narcotics worth Rs 1.26 lakh, seized in 13 separate cases in Raichur, destroyed by police
Raichur: In a major step towards prevention of substance abuse, officers from various police stations in the district destroyed 11 kg narcotics (ganja) worth Rs 1.26 lakh seized over the last two years in multiple cases in Raichur.
The officers destroyed the narcotics on Thursday at the medical disposal of narcotics unit situated on the Yaklaspur Road. The narcotics had been confiscated in 13 separate cases filed at the Balaganur, Thurvihala, Yargera, Maski, Raichur Rural, Raichur CEN, Sindhnur Rural, Sadar Bazar and Lingasugur police stations in 2023 and 2024.
Raichur Superintendent of Police M Puttamadayya, who also heads the Narcotics Disposal Committee, ASP-2 G Harish, DySP MG Sathyanarayan Rao of Raichur Sub-division, DySP of Dattatreya Karnad of Lingasugur Sub-division, RIM Act (Raichur) chairperson Dr. Shreeshailesh Amarkheda, Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) Environment Officer Prakash, Deputy Environment Officer Shailaja V Ameengadh, technician Jayakumar, DCRB unit Inspector Thimmanna S were present.
