Evacuate residents from Dubai, Oman, Iran soon: J&K CS

VANDE BHARAT MISSION STARTED ON MAY 7 TO BRING BACK STRANDED INDIAN NATIONALS BACK HOME FROM OTHER COUNTRIES INITIATED ITS 2ND PHASE ON MAY 16

JAMMU: Jammu and Kashmir chief secretary BVR Subrahmanyam on Saturday wrote to foreign secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla seeking evacuation of UT residents stranded in Oman, Dubai, and Iran.

“Under Vande Bharat Mission, students of J&K stranded in Bangladesh are being brought to Srinagar. This step has been highly appreciated by the people. The Jammu and Kashmir administration has also received requests from its residents stranded in Oman, Dubai, and Iran for their early evacuation. Their prolonged stay abroad during the pandemic has made them restless and fearful of catching the disease in a foreign country,” the letter stated.

‘WISH TO CELEBRATE EID WITH FAMILIES’

“The UT residents stranded in Oman, Dubai and Iran have requested to return back to the country and they are also desirous of celebrating the Eid festival, which is, approaching on May 25. I would, therefore, request your personal intervention in prioritising the evacuation of residents of J&K stranded in these countries,” it added.

“Evacuation process of those stranded in Bangladesh is nearly complete. Now, efforts are on for evacuating those stuck in London, Oman, Dubai, Iran,” said principal secretary and government spokesperson, Rohit Kansal in a tweet, while sharing the letter of the J&K chief secretary to the foreign secretary.

“Another train from Bengaluru is scheduled to arrive on May 17.

The total number of returnees has crossed the 65,000 mark. In other places where residents of the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir are stranded and waiting to be evacuated, the schedule is being finalised,” Kansal said in another post.

Vande Bharat Mission, which started on May 7 to bring back stranded Indian nationals back home from other countries, initiated its second phase of operation from Saturday.