1,582 tourists from Maharashtra in J&K as state government plans special flights

A special flight carrying 65 stranded people arranged by the Shiv Sena landed in Mumbai at midnight on Wednesday

As many as 1,582 tourists from Maharashtra are in Jammu and Kashmir and the state government has been arranging special flights to bring them back, officials said.

Two special flights have been arranged to bring back stranded tourists from Kashmir. (Eknath Shinde | Official CX account)

While the state government has been officially making arrangements to bring the stranded people back, Shiv Sena-led by deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde is also arranging chartered flights for them.

A special flight carrying 65 stranded people arranged by the Shiv Sena landed in Mumbai at midnight on Wednesday. Two flights arranged by the government will carry 183 tourists back to Mumbai.

According to the statement issued by the chief minister’s office (CMO), two special flights have been arranged to bring back stranded tourists from Kashmir.

Apart from the Indigo flight for 83 people, another Air India flight has been arranged for 100 tourists from Maharashtra. Both flights will arrive in Mumbai on Thursday evening. The state government has attached the lists of the passengers to board the flights.

“Following the directions of chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, two special flights will arrive in Mumbai today. An Indigo flight will bring back 83 tourists, and the Air India flight will bring another lot of 100 passengers to Mumbai. Union minister Muralidhar Mohol is providing full assistance for this. The cost of these special flights will be borne by the state government,” the statement read.

Satish Khadake, director, disaster management cell, Maharashtra said, “We have been collating figures of the stranded Maharashtra tourists in Kashmir and the number has so far reached 1,582. The arrangements are being made to be bring them all back safely.”

Terrorists struck at a tourist location in Pahalgam in south Kashmir on Tuesday, killing at least 26 people, mostly tourists, and injuring several others. The deceased included six tourists from Maharashtra.