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Seven buses carrying stranded NRIs from US leave Ludhiana for Delhi airport
The buses were arranged by the US embassy , which checked the passport and other documents of the passengers before allowing them to board the buses
Around 100 stranded non-resident Indians (NRIs) from the United States, who were stranded in Jalandhar, SBS Nagar (Nawanshahr), Moga and Khanna boarded multiple buses from a pick-up point in Ludhiana for Indira Gandhi International Airport, Delhi, to fly back home on Wednesday.
Seven Volvo buses were arranged by the United States (US) embassy to ferry the NRIs from Bhai Bala Chowk, Ludhiana, to the Delhi airport. Each bus carried around 15 passengers.
A huge rush was witnessed at the bus pick-up point as the NRIs accompanied by their family members reached at the pick-up point in their cars and taxis.
Officials from the US embassy checked the passports and other documents before allowing passengers to board the buses.
Harmail Singh, 50, of Littran village in Jalandhar was here with his father Davinder Singh,71, to travel back to Fresno, California. Harmail said they had come to their village on February 29 for some work and were to fly back to the US on March 23, but their flight was cancelled due to the lockdown and since then they had been stuck here.
“I also missed the opportunity to fly back home last month when the US Embassy had started special flights to evacuate their citizens from India. Later on April 11, I applied to the embassy, which sent an email asking to report here at Park Plaza near Bhai Bala Chowk,” he said, adding that he was happy as he will get to see his family after nearly two-and-half-months.
Gurpinder Kaur,36, who was also travelling to California, said she had come to SBS Nagar in mid-March and was supposed to stay in India for a month. “I am glad the Indian government and the US embassy made this arrangement to send us back home,” she said.
