State govt coordinates return of Maharashtra residents stuck in Middle East

Nashik/Kolhapur: The state govt is taking steps to bring back people from Maharashtra who are stuck in the Middle East since the war between Iran and US-Israel broke out and flights were cancelled, water resources minister Girish Mahajan said on Tuesday. Around 438 people from the state are stranded in the Middle East, including 115 from Kolhapur, 98 from Mumbai and 75 from Pune. Mahajan, who has been tasked with coordination efforts to bring such people home, was spoke to reporters in Nashik and said, "The number of people who are stuck there is increasing as the family members are now getting in touch with state govt through the helpline. We are coordinating with the officials of the respective countries through central govt," said Mahajan.
Meanwhile, a batch of 23 tourists from Kolhapur district who had gone to Dubai have already returned, and another batch of 80 will be arriving on Thursday.Moreover, two wrestlers — Reshma Mane and Apeksha Patil — who were part of the Indian contingent on a visit to Tirana in Albania to participate in the World Ranking Series, were also stuck since the war broke out. They are, however, returning to Delhi on Thursday. They got their tickets for Turkish Airlines booked after it was conveyed that flights from Istanbul are operating between Indian and Türkiye. They will board the plane on Wednesday and travel for nearly eight hours to reach India's capital.Also, 221 people from Nashik district, most of them from Malegaon, are stranded in Dubai and Abu Dhabi in the UAE and in Saudi Arabia, where they had been on religious pilgrimage.The Kolhapur district administration has found that 208 residents of the district were in the Gulf countries either for work or for tourism. Among them, 150 are tourists. Around 35 had been working there for at least a year and did not want to return. One of them, who works for a shipping company, said his company has stalled work and has advised employees to stay indoors. "They don't want to return unless there is a serious threat, which is not yet the case at the place of their work. We are, however, in touch with them and their relatives back home so that in case of an emergency, we can convey important messages," said Prasad Sankpal, Kolhapur district's head of disaster management.One of the tourists from Hupari who arrived in the first batch from Dubai said, "We used to get the alerts on our mobile phones about what to do and what not to do. At one moment, we saw a plume of smoke coming out from near a multi-storied building. We later learnt it was from the part of an intercepted drone. It was terrifying. However, largely, there was normalcy.""We are hopeful that the situation will change in the next couple of days, and more planes will start flying. That will help us bring back people," said Mahajan.One Nashik district administration official said, "A majority of our people stranded there are tourists. Some of them are students and few are workers who got stranded," said the officer. Their requests have been raised with the appropriate authorities, the officer added.Similarly, there were 35 people from Jalgaon and 31 from Ahilyanagar who are also stuck in the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. They too have requested their exit from the region, officials from the respective districts said.Get the latest lifestyle updates on Times of India, along with Holi wishes, messages and quotes !