MUMBAI: Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has arranged two aircraft to bring back 164 citizens of the state stranded in the United Arab Emirates amid the US-Israel-Iran conflict, his office informed on Tuesday.
The state government has also launched an emergency WhatsApp helpline for hundreds of state residents stranded in the Middle East.
Shinde's office in a statement said two flights will take off from Fujairah Airport at 3:30 pm and 4:30 pm and are expected to land in Mumbai in the evening.
The 164 passengers include 84 students of the Pune-based Indira School of Business Studies and residents from Thane, Ahilyanagar and Pune, it stated.
The deputy chief minister has been in touch with those stranded since the West Asia conflict started on Saturday.
According to officials, several hundred people from Maharashtra are stranded in the Middle East due to airspace closure caused by the Iran war, though all are safe.
The Chief Minister's Office (CMO), in a post on X, said that CM Devendra Fadnavis is personally monitoring the situation and is in constant contact with various agencies.
He is also coordinating regularly with the Central government, which is extending all possible assistance, while Maharashtra Minister Girish Mahajan has been tasked with coordination efforts.
The CMO stated that the state government, in coordination with the Indian People's Forum in Dubai, has issued a WhatsApp helpline number +971 50 365 4357 for stranded citizens who require assistance.
US President Donald Trump has said that the heavy and pinpoint bombing of Iran would continue through the week or as long as necessary.
In the wake of the situation, many airspaces in West Asia have been closed, causing massive flight disruptions and leaving passengers stranded.
Figures of stranded citizens are being collected from more places across Maharashtra, officials have said.
Among those stranded in Dubai is the Congress's Jalna Lok Sabha MP Kalyan Kale, who had gone there on Friday, just a day before the joint US-Israel strike in Iran, his brother Jagannath Kale said.
