200 stranded Indians fly home in July, thanks to community group
dubai — A team of expatriates hailing from India’s coastal region of Konkan in Maharashtra managed to repatriate more than 200 stranded members after numerous weeks of arduous efforts.
The United Konkan Group came together as a unit to repatriate stranded people in three chartered flights in July. “Many people from the region were desperate to return home. Some of them were on visit visas, others had medical emergencies while several had job issues and were in dire straits. Every person had a story to tell, and listening to their plight, I decided to put together a team to provide moral and financial aid. After much coordination and talks with various authorities, we managed to organise flights,” said Dilawar Dalwai, advisor to the Emirates Konkan Committee and organiser of the United Konkan team.
Members of the group, including Dalwai, Sabina Khot, Khalid Mukadam, Nazir Hurzuk, Naushad Patel and Mukhtar Palekar got together to make the repatriation journey possible. All this was done in coordination with the Consulate-General of India (CGI), Dubai, Government of Maharashtra, CityOne Tourism & Travel, and the huge support of
Rahul Tulpule of Gulf Maharashtra Business Forum (GMBF). Some Konkan community members like Junaid and Sabina Shaikh came forward to sponsor several tickets.
Abhijeet Shinde, one among the repatriated, had come to work in a Dubai hotel which closed due to the pandemic. He didn’t know what to do and contacted one of the Konkan members. “Accept my gratitude. You have no idea how much you have helped me. Whatever you have done during this difficult time for me is highly appreciated.” wrote Shinde after reaching Mumbai.
Other cases include a woman who had come to the UAE on a visit visa in search of a job, leaving her children back home, only to get stranded. Another woman had lost her husband due to Covid-19 in Dubai.
“There was a real need to open up an alternate channel to repatriate stranded Indians. Until now, we have repatriated about 1,200 people,” said Rahul Tulpule, vice-president of the GMBF.
After much coordination and talks with various authorities, we managed to organise flights.” Dilawar Dalwai, organiser, United Konkan team