KOLKATA: The first repatriation flight from Bangladesh to Kolkata, carrying 160 people, will arrive here on Monday, capping days of a wordy duel between the West Bengal government and the Centre on the issue.
The flight under 'Vande Bharat' mission will arrive at Kolkata International Airport here from Dhaka on May 18.
The development will hopefully bring down curtains on the political row between the state government and the Ministry of External Affairs for the last two days after Bengal alleged that the centre was discriminating between states in terms of deploying repatriation flights for residents of different states.
Denying the charge, MEA Spokesperson Anurag Srivastava had said the Centre does not differentiate between states, and its 'Vande Bharat' mission is for all stranded Indians.
Adding fuel to the fire, the state government on Friday said it had "long back" communicated to the Centre the preparations made to welcome back people stranded abroad, while replying to the Union government's assertion that repatriation flights can be facilitated to Kolkata if Bengal confirms the arrangements to receive and quarantine passengers.
West Bengal Home Secretary Alapan Bandopadhyay on Saturday said the first repatriation flight from abroad -- Dhaka -- would be arriving in the city on May 18.
The state government has informed External Affairs and Civil Aviation ministries about the arrangements made in the city for those onboard following the relaxation of lockdown norms.
The passengers would go on the mandatory, 14-day quarantine upon arriving in Kolkata, Bandopadhyay said.
The state government has already shared the list of hotels which it has earmarked for pay-and-use quarantine stay and also those arranged by the government for free, he said.
"I hope these arrangements will streamline the return of travellers", he said.
More repatriation flights will arrive in the city, and the government has made provisions for buses, app cabs and pre-paid taxis to transfer passengers from the airport, he added.
Indians stranded in various countries due to COVID-19-driven restrictions are being brought back in special flights under the Union government's 'Vande Bharat' mission.
Senior TMC leader and state Education Minister Partha Chatterjee welcomed the development and said it should have taken place long back.
"The repatriation flights should have arrived long back. But better late than never," he said.
The issue of deployment of repatriation flights for Bengal had fanned the ongoing Centre-state confrontation, after Chatterjee on Thursday night alleged that the Union government was discriminating between states in terms of allotting repatriation flights under the Vande Bharat' mission.
The MEA had denied the charge within a few hours with its spokesperson, Anurag Srivastava, tweeting, "The MEA does not discriminate between states. GOI's Vande Bharat Mission is for all stranded Indians, including those from West Bengal."
"Will gladly facilitate flights to Kolkata if the state government will confirm arrangements to receive and quarantine. Will also help in return of West Bengal residents through land borders with neighbours. We hope to receive an early response on the matter. @MoCAGoI @HomeSecretaryWB," Srivastava had tweeted.
The state Home Department replied that it had "long back" communicated to the Union government the preparations made by it to welcome back people stranded abroad.
It also shared the two letters written by West Bengal Chief Secretary Rajiva Sinha to Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla and the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on May 8 and 11.
The letters mention the details regarding preparations for institutional quarantine facilities for foreign returnees.
Srivastava later replied to the tweet, saying the MEA welcomed the willingness of the West Bengal government to accept the returnees from abroad and requested early confirmation of modalities to be followed upon the arrival of passengers at the Kolkata airport.
The exchange of words on the allotment of International flights had come close on heels of the Centre and the state sparring on running of 'Special Shramik' trains to ferry stranded migrant workers hailing from Bengal back home.
The West Bengal government was last week rapped by the Centre for not allowing trains to ferry migrants, stranded in other states.
The state government had denied the charge and said it had already requisitioned trains to bring back migrant labourers.
Arrangements for contact-less travel and social distancing norms have been readied at the city airport to keep passengers safe from COVID-19, a top airport official said on Saturday.
An "absolute contact-less procedure" with "least possible surface touch" will be provided to passengers from the time of entering the airport till boarding the flight under the new arrangement.
Director of N S C Bose International Airport Kaushik Bhattacharya said, "We have taken all measures to keep the entire operations touch-free. We will entirely go by the directives of the Centre in this regard."
From collecting boarding pass to tagging of luggage, social distancing norms will be strictly followed and there will be zero contact with personnel at the counters, airport sources said.
Apart from temperature checking with thermal guns, the mandatory security check and frisking will be done by maintaining a necessary gap between the passenger and security personnel, the sources said.
Tickets and identity cards will be checked by the CISF personnel without any physical contact.
Passengers will be scanned by a machine to match identity cards, during which they may be required to briefly remove their masks.
The travellers will not have any contact with kiosks that will dispense boarding passes.
Passengers are only required to display their mobile phones or ticket with an identity card to the person designated to operate the machine.
The passengers will have to collect it after it has been dispensed from the kiosk.
There will be mandatory washing of hands before boarding and a gap in seating arrangements inside the terminal, they said.
A passenger cannot move around in the lounge area while waiting for flight and only basic utility shops will be allowed to open including tea and coffee shops, the sources said.
All necessary santisation measures are already in force in the airport and disinfectants are being sprayed on a regular basis.
From handling of cargo carriers to evacuation flight of foreign nationals from the airport during the lockdown period, the airport has been working on a limited scale even during this period, the sources said.