India to evacuate citizens stuck in Gulf, State Govts set up helplines

Amid escalating West Asia tensions, the Centre on Monday said it is in touch with Indian missions in the Gulf region to ensure safe return of stranded Indian nationals as state governments across the country stepped up efforts to assist such residents. Asserting that it was closely monitoring the evolving airspace situation in parts of the region, the civil aviation ministry on Monday evening said IndiGo plans to operate 10 special relief flights from Jeddah (Saudi Arabia) to various Indian cities on March 3. IndiGo is coordinating with the Consulate General of India at Jeddah for passenger facilitation, the ministry said in a statement. A source said flights from Jeddah will be operated to Hyderabad, Mumbai, Delhi, and Ahmedabad.
In Maharashtra, officials said hundreds of people from the state are stranded in the Gulf nations due to airspace closure. Among those stranded in Dubai is Congress' Jalna Lok Sabha MP Kalyan Kale, who had gone there on Friday, just a day before the joint US-Israel strike on Iran, his brother Jagannath Kale said. Nine other tourists from Jalna are also stranded in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, the two biggest cities and business nerve centres of the United Arab Emirates, the officials added.
As many as 84 students and four professors from Indira Institute of School of Business in Pimpri Chinchvad in Pune are stuck in Dubai after reaching the Gulf to attend the 'Global Immersion Programme', an official said. A Pune official said the administration has received information about 123 persons from the district being stuck in Dubai. Sources said 300 people from Pune district, who had gone to Dubai through a health insurance firm on February 26, are also stuck, though officials said they do not have information in this regard.
As many as 109 people from Karnataka are stranded in the war-ravaged West Asia, CM office said in a statement. Karnataka Revenue Minister Krishna Byre Gowda said the Karnataka government is making efforts to bring back those stranded in the Gulf. "We have taken up this matter with the central government and sought their intervention," the minister said.
In Andhra Pradesh, NRI Empowerment and Relations Minister K Srinivas said the state government is taking urgent measures to safely bring back Telugu citizens stranded in the Gulf region. The minister called on Telugu expatriates in the Gulf to make use of the helplines launched for their assistance. "As Telugu people are facing hardships at some airports, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu and I are regularly monitoring the situation," he said. Noting that the government has alerted Andhra Pradesh Non-Resident Telugu Society (APNRTS) coordinators in the Gulf region to help Telugu people in distress,Srinivas said efforts are on to provide temporary accommodation, security and help in the homes of local Telugu people. The APNRTS has advised Telugu expats to travel to Muscat in Oman for repatriation flights to Kochi and return to India.
The Telangana government on Monday set up a control room at the Telangana Bhavan in New Delhi to assist residents of the state living in crisis-hit West Asia and their family members back home. The State government officials are closely monitoring the situation in the Gulf region, an official release said.
In Punjab, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann announced a round-the-clock helpline to assist Punjabis stranded in affected countries following the joint Israel-US attack on Iran, assuring them all possible help. The BJP and the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) also released helpline numbers for those stuck in the affected countries.
In Uttar Pradesh, police said several people from Amethi, including four students, are stranded in Iran. They are all residents of Bhanauli village under the Musafirkhana area of the district, they said.
In Himachal Pradesh, Industry Minister Harshwardhan Chauhan said there has been no harm to any Himachali stranded in the Middle East and asserted that everyone wishing to return would be brought safely once flights resume. The state home secretary is in touch with the Ministry of External Affairs and the Union home secretary, Chauhan said. "As of now, the exact number of people from the state stranded in the Middle East is not available, but the stranded people are in touch with their family members," he said.