Delhi gears up to receive over 400 returnees from abroad in special flights

Under the Vande Bharat mission, launched by the Central government on Thursday, national carrier Air India is bringing Indian citizens stuck abroad back to the country.

With Delhi residents expected to return from across the globe over the next eight days, the Delhi government on Thursday arranged for paid quarantine facilities in more than 1,500 rooms in city hotels.

The Delhi government has ordered all evacuees will have to mandatorily be under institutional quarantine in a paid facility for 14 days from the date of arrival. (Sakib Ali/HT File photo)

More than 400 people are expected to arrive at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport from Singapore and Dhaka in Bangladesh on Friday, as part of the Vande Bharat mission to ferry back Indians stranded abroad, the city administration said on Thursday.

Under the exercise , launched by the Union government on Thursday, national carrier Air India is bringing Indian citizens stuck abroad back to the country. At the same time, it will also send US, UK and Singapore stuck in the country.

The Delhi government issued a revised order on Thursday on the rules for handling passengers arriving in Delhi from abroad, in which it specified that everyone will have to mandatorily be under institutional quarantine in a paid facility for 14 days from the date of arrival.

The order clarified that Delhi will house returnees belonging to neighbouring states of Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. This clarification came after the Delhi government, in its previous order issued on Wednesday, had asked the respective states to ferry the passengers in buses.

“We are expecting to handle 410 passengers on Day one (Friday) of the operation in Delhi. One flight, carrying 243 passengers, will arrive at 11.30am from Singapore and a second flight, ferrying 167 people, will land in Delhi around 1pm from Dhaka,” a senior government official said.

Shilpa Shinde, special secretary (health and family welfare), has been appointed the nodal officer for the Delhi chapter of the operation.

“Everyone will have to mandatorily undergo screening at the airport. We have arranged for over a dozen buses to transport passengers from the airport to the paid quarantine facilities. No option of home quarantine or free government quarantine will be given as of now,” said Shinde.

She said that the government has also kept free quarantine facilities on standby.

Explaining the reason for providing the option of only paid facilities to the passengers, another senior official said the government will not be in a situation to address any grievances related to the quality of standards at the free quarantine centres.

The government has tied up with seven hotels for quarantine facilities, which will be offered for prices between Rs 2,000 plus taxes and Rs 4,800 plus taxes, depending on the overall rating of the hotel and the choice of room (single or double bed).

The rate includes breakfast, lunch and dinner, two bottles of mineral water per day, tea and coffee, and other facilities, such as Wi-Fi and TV. Food from a set menu will be served to the quarantined guests only in disposal plates and their clothes will be laundered separately.

About 200 rooms at Hotel Le Meridian, 200 at Sheraton, 250 at Vivanta by Taj in Dwarka, have been reserved for the purpose, besides rooms at Red Fox and IBIS in Aerocity, Welcome Hotel by ITC and Red Fox in Mayur Vihar Phase 1.

A spokesperson for the Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL), said, “The standard operating procedures for handling passengers of repatriation flights have been developed by the ministries and agencies concerned. This includes maintaining social distance, which would also be mandatory for the passengers to follow while getting off the aircraft. The government and Air India have been working out the logistics of the repatriation flights based on the number of citizens to be brought back to the country. The first such flight is expected to arrive in Delhi on Friday.

“We are expecting about 200 passengers per flight. The Delhi government will be determining the locations where the arriving passengers would be sent for quarantine. The airlines, their ground handlers, DIAL staff, immigrations, CISF and customs will be supporting the APHO and Delhi government during these operations.”

The airline staff will ensure that the passengers have filled their self-reporting forms properly and download the Arogya Setu app on their mobile phones, officials said.