THOOTHUKUDI: Indian Navy Ship Jalashwa, the vessel repatriating 686 Indians stranded in Sri Lanka under "Operation Samudra Setu", arrived at V O Chidambaranar Port here at 9.30 am on Tuesday. Of the repatriated, 670 belonged to Tamil Nadu. Among the crew members were nine fishermen -- five from Nagapattinam and four from Pudukottai -- arrested by the Sri Lankan navy for illegally fishing in the country's waters. The fishermen embarked on the vessel after obtaining bail on March 20, sources said.
Since May 29, the port authorities have been working alongside the district administration, customs, Port Health Organisation (PHO), Immigration, and Indian Navy for a seamless disembarkation process. The passengers were screened before disembarking the vessel and were provided each with Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) kit, with their luggage disinfected by the port authorities. Installing "Aarogya Setu" mobile application was mandated by the port authorities, who along with the district administration, provided breakfast and lunch for the passengers. Sources said that 25 government buses, each accomodating 25 passengers, were arranged to transport the repatriated to their destinations.
VOC Port Chairman T K Ramachandran, Collector Sandeep Nanduri and Superintendent of Police Arun Balagopalan supervised the disembarking of passengers. Sandeep said that a set of expatriates -- stranded in Maldives and Iran -- are likely to be brought back to the country on June 7 and 17, respectively.