Evacuation Plan: Indians stranded abroad due to Covid-19 crisis to be brought back; all you need to know

A number of Indians stranded beyond the seas because of the coronavirus will be brought back by air and by sea from Thursday in the world’s biggest evacuation operation.

More than 14,800 Indians in 13 nations will be brought back using 64 aircrafts in the first week, says the Ministry of External Affairs.

They will be asked to pay in the region of Rs 50,000 for a flight from Europe and Rs 1 lakh from the United States. Navy warships will as well set about for indian citizens trapped in West Asia and the Maldives.

Here’s 10 point guide of the story:

1) On 7th May, ten flights will fly back 2,300 Indians stranded because of airspace closures by many nations to curb the spread of Covid-19. Flights will go to US, the Philippines, Singapore, Bangladesh, UAE, UK, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Singapore, Oman, Bahrain and Kuwait.

2) Approximately 2,050 Indians will reach Chennai, Kochi, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Bengaluru and Delhi from nine different countries, as per the plan. A similar figure is anticipated to reach on third day in Mumbai, Kochi, Lucknow and Delhi from 13 countries across the Middle East, Europe, South East Asia and US.

3) On fourth day, the government will cring back 1,850 stranded indians from eight nations, which includes UK, US and UAE.

4) Relying on the aircraft, each flight will put up between 200 and 300 passengers to ensure social distancing. Ahead of boarding the flights, the passengers need to declare whether they have fever, cough, diabetes or any kind of respiratory illness.

5) Only asymptomatic passengers would be permitted to travel, according to the government.

6) The three ships brought into play by the Navy involve INS Jalashwa, based in Visakhapatnam, which has launched into the Arabian Sea for the evacuation. The others are INS Shardul and INS Magar.

7) India place an embargo on all incoming international flights in late March as it imposed one of the world's strictest lockdowns, leaving huge numbers of workers and students stranded.

8) Upto now, the Indian government had withstood such operations, given the logistical and safety nightmare of repatriating and quarantining millions of returnees.

9) In the UAE, more or less 200,000 Indians have put in to come back, as per the Consulate General of India in Dubai.

10) Preference will be given to pregnant women, elderly, people with medical conditions and ones with serious illness in their immediate family, besides stranded tourists, say officials.

Also Read: India to repatriate its stranded nationals in 2 special flights from UAE on May 7