NUAPADA: For Tapas Meher, the journey from the war-ravaged Ukraine to his home in Nuapada was no less than a nightmare. The chilling scenes of bomb explosions, terrifying sound of emergency sirens and the suffering in sub-zero temperatures seem like a bad dream to 26-year-old lad, a fifth-year MBBS student of Ivano-Frankivsk National Medical University.
Tapas reached his home at Duajhar village in Khariar block here on Thursday. Recounting his harrowing experience, he said, “Though our university was outside the conflict zone, we were terrified to witness bombing at a distance of just two km from the campus on the day military operation was launched by Russia.”
On contacting the Indian Embassy, Tapas and his friends were asked to reach the border. “We decided to go through Romania and the authorities asked us to put up Indian flag on our vehicle for smooth passage. However, we were gripped with panic.”
Tapas was in a group of 80 students and finding vehicles at such a crisis was a mammoth task as the transport system was disrupted due to incessant shelling and attacks. The private transporters were not ready to take the students.
“We somehow managed to get two buses and reach Romania. However, many of our friends were stuck at the border as thousands of people reached there at the same time. The temperature fell below -10 degrees Celsius and many students suffered from hypothermia. It was disturbing to know about these incidents. Our evacuation was smooth after we reached Romania,” he informed.
Tapas along with his friends were given accommodation in Romania for a day. They were then sent to New Delhi. Subsequently, he boarded a flight to Raipur from where he reached Nuapada by road. The traumatic journey lasted for four days. While five students including Tapas have returned to Nuapada, at least 12 others from the district are still stranded in parts of Ukraine.