234 Indians land in Capital from Singapore
FIRST OF 11 FLIGHTS LANDED AT NEW DELHI’S AIRPORT ON FRIDAY AS PART OF THE UNION GOVERNMENT’S
VANDE BHARAT REPATRIATION DRIVE
NEW DELHI: An Air India aircraft carrying 234 Indians from Singapore landed at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) on Friday morning, the first flight to land in the city as part of the Union government’s ambitious Vande Bharat repatriation programme. A second flight from Dhaka in Bangladesh, earlier scheduled to land in Delhi on Friday as well, was re-routed to Srinagar as all passengers on-board were from Jammu & Kashmir.
While passengers who landed in Delhi said it took most of them only around 30 minutes to complete their medical screening, immigration check, collect luggage and clear customs at the airport, some complained of long waiting hours, and said there was no social distancing on board the flight.
After completing their checks at the airport, passengers were sent to hotels around the city for mandatory 14-day quarantine.
This is the first of 11 flights that scheduled to land in the Capital as part of the repatriation drive.
A Delhi resident, whose 74-year-old father-in-law and friend’s 68-year-old father were travelling, said the two left the airport around 4pm, even though the flight landed around noon.
“Their flight had landed before 12pm, but there was a long waiting time. My father-in-law has blood pressure problems and my friend’s father is diabetic. They had left Singapore at 8am. They said they were only offered a packet of biscuits, some chocolate and juice, a bun and some fruit during the flight. But nothing was given after the flight, even though by the time they reached the hotel, it was almost 6pm,” said the woman, who wished not to be named.
She said after arriving in Delhi, the two men were put in separate groups, based on their home states. “Since both of them are old, we wanted them to stay together but one of them is from West Bengal and the other from
Uttar Pradesh, and based on this they were sent to different hotels, in Dwarka and Noida,” she said.
Some passengers also took to social media. One of them tweeted to the government of Rajasthan requesting deputation of an executive from the state at the airport. The passenger said that while there were representatives of other states, there was none from Rajasthan.
He requested arrangements for him to be sent to Jodhpur in Rajasthan.
However, according to special secretary (health and family welfare), Shilpa Shinde, who is also the nodal officer for the operation, the entire process “went smoothly”.
“The passengers did not have to wait for long hours to get through the entire process. It all went smoothly. From the airport, they are being ferried in government buses to the paid quarantine facilities,” she said.
Shinde added that the passengers were given an option to choose from a set of hotels, which have been roped in to set up quarantine facilities.
An airport official, wishing not to be identified, said it took them not more than 25 to 35 minutes per person on an average for screening the passengers, escorting them to dedicated immigration counters for clearance, helping them collect their luggage and then reaching the triage area passing through the customs.
At the triage area at the airport, the director-general of health services (DGHS) had deputed as many as 20 health teams, comprising doctors and paramedical staff, to conduct screening of all passengers.
Senior officials involved in the movement of the passengers, requesting anonymity, said that most of them were taken to hotel IBIS and hotel Red Fox in Aerocity. Some opted for Le Meridian in Central Delhi.
About 200 rooms at the Le Meridian hotel, 200 at Sheraton and 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.
Rooms are being offered for prices between ₹2,000 plus taxes and ₹4,800 plus taxes, depending on the overall rating of the hotel and the choice of room (single or double bed).