Andhra Pradesh Evacuates 297 Telugus From Gulf to Home State During Last Three Days
AP government got involved in the rescue operation following urgent appeals from the distressed Telugu people.
Vijayawada: Andhra Pradesh government has safely evacuated 297 Telugu people in the last three days to their home state from Bahrain, where they had gathered from across the Gulf region following the ongoing war in West Asia..In a coordinated action, 59 of them reached Kochi on Tuesday, March 10; 138 arrived at Mumbai on Wednesday, March 11; and 100 people landed at Hyderabad on Thursday, March 12.
Efforts are on to rescue another 400 Telugus who are either visitors or residents of the Gulf. Talks are on with stakeholders to arrange dedicated Gulf Air flights to Hyderabad to help more Telugu people return safely to AP.
AP government got involved in the rescue operation following urgent appeals from the distressed Telugu people. They had been anxious to reach home due to the war. But travel disruptions and logistical challenges had made them helpless.
The rescue operation launched by the AP government commenced on the direction of Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu to ensure safe return of all the stranded Telugu people back to their home state.
Authorities say Bahrain has suffered bombings and missile hits. Yet, they held talks with Gulf Air to arrange its buses to safely transport the stranded Telugu people from various places to the King Fahd International Airport at Dammam in Saudi Arabia. There, they boarded the Gulf Air flights to reach the Indian airports, before reaching AP.
New Delhi-based Andhra Pradesh Bhavan special commissioner Dr. Arja Srikanth told Deccan Chronicle, “We have coordinated with several government institutions, diplomatic missions, airlines, and the Telugu diaspora. This enabled us to get the stranded Telugus in the Gulf to reach their home state safely. This shows AP’s commitment to support its citizens abroad in times of crisis.”
He explained that a team of volunteers from Bahrain extended all support. They held talks with Gulf Air officials to arrange buses to transport the Telugus from Bahrain to the Dammam airport.
“Soon after our Telugu people boarded the buses at Bahrain, the doors of the bus had been locked for safety. The buses directly reached the airport and caught the available flights to India,” Dr. Srikanth explained.
AP Bhavan officials received support from the Andhra Pradesh Non-Resident Telugu Society, Civil Aviation ministry, Directorate General of Civil Aviation, the Embassy of India in Bahrain, and the Gulf Air.
An estimated one lakh Indians are believed to be stranded in the Gulf region, as per details available with the authorities.