The organisation behind Abu Dhabi's new Hindu temple sent two tanks carrying 44 tonnes of liquid oxygen to India.
The shipment will be used to fill thousands of oxygen cylinders in Indian hospitals reeling from shortages that have forced facilities to turn away critically ill Covid-19 patients.
About 350 oxygen concentrators, 600 oxygen cylinders and liquid oxygen stored at minus 185°C are part of the first phase of relief supplies sent by the temple group.
The shipment from Dubai will reach Mundra in India's Gujarat state on Friday.
The Baps Swaminarayan Sanstha, the organisation building the UAE's first traditional Hindu temple in the UAE's capital, plans to create a supply chain of oxygen by providing more than 440 tonnes of liquid oxygen per month, starting this week.
This would be sufficient to fill about 53,000 oxygen cylinders, said Swami Brahmavihari, a priest handling international affairs.
The oxygen will be made available to the government and to the country's Covid-19 hospitals that Baps supports.
He said the group was keen to help during a time when “Covid-19 has completely taken India into its alarming grip”.
“Our role is to save as many lives as possible, to support the people in need,” he said.
The temple authorities aim to send a message of hope and faith to families struggling to cope in a country that has lost 218,951 lives to the disease.
According to official figures, India registered 3,417 deaths and 368,147 new cases in the past 24 hours.
Several nations, including the UAE, have stepped in to send medicines and oxygen equipment to facilities desperately in need.
“Our biggest role is to not just supply oxygen, provide medical help, or reach out to people with food and facilities," the priest said.
“The real help lies in providing emotional comfort, to generate positivity, to create hope that yes, this too shall pass. We will rise again and through unity and harmony, through the spirit of service and selflessness, we will be able to overcome this.”
The organisation has provided almost 10 million food packets to people in India. It offers subsidised treatment to thousands of Covid-19 patients in five medical facilities and field hospitals it supports.
The group has built 1,200 temples around the world and is constructing a shrine in Abu Dhabi that will be ready next year.
India's Covid-19 crisis - in pictures
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Workers construct funeral pyre plinths on barren land near a crematorium in New Delhi, India. Bloomberg -
A medical worker in PPE observes patients who have been infected by Covid-19 inside a makeshift covid care facility in a sports stadium at the Commonwealth Games Village in New Delhi. Getty Images -
Oxygen tankers are seen on a special train 'Oxygen Express' upon their arrival at a station amidst rising Covid-19 coronavirus cases, in Hyderabad. AFP -
A woman reacts as a health worker prepares to collect a nasal swab sample to test for the Covid-19 coronavirus at primary health centre, in Hyderabad. AFP -
A woman, who came to receive a dose of a coronavirus disease vaccine, stands in front of a closed gate of a vaccination centre which was closed due to unavailability of the supply of COVID-19 vaccine, in Mumbai, India. Reuters -
A worker sprays disinfectant inside a function hall temporarly converted into a quarantine centre for Covid-19 coronavirus patients, in Hyderabad. AFP -
A man with a breathing problem receives oxygen support for free at a Gurudwara (Sikh temple), amidst the spread of coronavirus disease, in Ghaziabad, India. Reuters -
A volunteer uses a pulse oximeter to check the oxygen saturation of a man's blood before providing him oxygen support for free at a Gurudwara (Sikh temple), amidst the spread of coronavirus disease, in Ghaziabad, India. Reuters -
Volunteers prepare meals to be donated to patients across the city suffering from Covid-19, made at the Gurudwara Bangla Sahib, in New Delhi. Getty Images -
Volunteers load meals to be donated to patients across the city suffering from Covid-19, made at the Gurudwara Bangla Sahib, in New Delhi. Getty Images -
Patients suffering from Covid-19 are treated with free oxygen at a makeshift clinic outside the Shri Guru Singh Sabha Gurdwara in Indirapuram, Uttar Pradesh, India. Getty Images
