4,013 stranded Indians brought back to state

Under the Vande Bharat Mission, 4,013 Indians stranded abroad owing to the suspension of air services owing to coronavirus have been brought back to Maharashtra

Under the Vande Bharat Mission, 4,013 Indians stranded abroad owing to the suspension of air services owing to coronavirus have been brought back to Maharashtra on 30 flights since May 7, a statement released by chief minister Uddhav Thackeray on Thursday has revealed. All the passengers have been kept under institutional quarantine developed by the state government for 14 days.

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Of the 4,013 evacuees, 1,309 are from Mumbai and have been quarantined at various hotels. The 1,691 passengers from the other parts of Maharashtra have been sent back to their districts. The state has also quarantined 1,013 passengers from other states at institutional facilities.

“Those who are not from Maharashtra and are yet to get entry passes to their respective states have also been quarantined,” said the chief minister.

“In the third phase of the Vande Bharat Mission, Air India has planned to operate 38 more flights until June 30, and hence, we are expecting more people to come to Mumbai in the coming days. In addition, charter flights have also been arranged to bring back Indian nationals. From Doha City (Qatar) alone, three charter flights have been scheduled for the next seven days to bring home the stranded nationals,” Thackeray said.

The stranded Indians have been evacuated from Britain, Singapore, Philippines, United States, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Kuwait, Ethiopia, Afghanistan, Oman, South Africa, Indonesia, Netherlands, Japan, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Tanzania, Spain and Ireland.