The Indian government's Vande Bharat Mission to fly back stranded citizens from across the world is in full swing, with 827 people reaching home from the UK on May 9.
While passengers are grateful for the opportunity to return home, the lack of communication has kept them on edge not only in the run-up to the flight and also right through their journey home.
A 23-year-old post graduate student live tweeted her bittersweet experience of travelling as part of the mission from the UK to Mumbai.
Ayushi Shah's trip began after she came to know by e-mail on May 8 that she was shortlisted for a flight the very next day which was later confirmed through a phone call.
Her flight tickets which usually costed Rs 25,000 for a one-way trip now costs double the amount.
Living four hours away from London where the airport is, she struggled to receive any written confirmation from the government for the seat on the flight. She said, "The Indian Embassy didn't answer my calls or emails. Half the call centre numbers don't even connect!"
By the time she reached London after receiving confirmation from Air India, it was 12 A.M, but another problem cropped up – accommodation.
A student help organization called Education Beyond Borders and Community Response Kitchen provided her with free stay and a drop to the airport the next morning.
Help came through private organizations
Daksha Varsan, the founder of Community Response Kitchen, provides up to 2500 meals every day to stranded Indians in the UK. She said, “I get calls daily from Indian students who need food or are evicted from residences. We go to them and provide them with meals or groceries – like atta for example to make rotis.”
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She has set up a kitchen in a community in Kachhia Samaj hall, London, run by a team of 50 unpaid volunteers, where she prepares food and distributes them to key workers in the NHS, vulnerable and shielded families, homeless shelters, stranded students and families who have no recourse to public funding.
Daksha, who was working as an administrator in a high school there, said, “There are hundreds of Indian students in London who are in need of food and shelter.”
While food is provided from her side, Roxann, who is part of Education Beyond Borders, finds accommodation for them.
The students approach them because there is often no help from the High Commission in the UK or any Indian companies. “All help comes from the community,” she added.
Luggage processed smoothly but no social distancing in sight
The security check and checking-in of luggage went off smoothly, Ayushi said, but "there was no social distancing on the plane."
The flight she boarded carried around 300 passengers with only a nine-seat quarantine zone.
Shortage of staff
While waiting to board, she spotted a middle-aged male passenger who slept at the London airport with no help even for water for long, until a security guard came around to assist.
Right before boarding, the passengers are screened medically. She said that “they are super helpful but understaffed," and emphasized that social distancing is "almost non-existent" in the airport she departed from.
Lack of communication
These returnees will be quarantined for 14 days but no information on the stay or options of stay were intimated by government officials throughout the trip.
For Mumbai residents “home quarantine is not an option. Neither is a spare home even if you can quarantine alone," she said. And this information was given to them only after they touched base and were literally standing at the arrival lounge of the airport at 1:30 A.M.
But, at the end of the day, Ayushi was grateful to return home and to the Air India staff for "the risk they took by choosing to help us fly". The Air India staff are her heroes, she said.
But she added that "things could have been so much better".
Kudos to in-flight and ground services
The UK is one of the severely affected nations with 2,15,000 COVID-19 cases and 31,662 deaths as of May 10. To repatriate Indians stranded abroad in places like the UK, frontline warriors like crew members and ground staff of Air India have put their lives on the line.
Passengers were cared for well. They were provided with vegetarian meals, snacks and offered masks, face shields and water bottles, while cabin crew members “drenched in plastic suits” were all completely protected.
The staff including doctors “kept their cool” while dealing with tired and cranky passengers in Chhatrapati Shivaji International airport.
The ground services which included collection of luggage and immigration were “faster and more efficient.”
Even the medical screening before boarding took only an hour.
Options of stay
Once the chaos at the arrival of the Mumbai airport settled, the passengers were given options of OYO rooms or budget hotels with prices ranging from Rs 2,150 to Rs 5,000 and were transported to their respective hotels.
Those from other cities like Pune or Thane were transported in state buses or tourist cabs, according to PTI.
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation has reserved over 3,340 rooms in 88 hotels for quarantining passengers brought back to India under 'Mission Vande Bharat'.
You can check the live tweet here.