HYDERABAD: The Telangana Bhavan in New Delhi has emerged as a safe sanctuary for the hundreds of Telangana-origin people who are presently in regions within range of Pakistani missiles.
On the directions of Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy, the Telangana Bhavan was designated as the nodal centre for coordination and relief operations for citizens stranded or returning from the affected areas. A 24x7 control room was established to receive distress calls and coordinate rescue and support efforts.
On Saturday, Telangana Bhavan was sheltering 30 citizens, including students from Lovely Professional University (LPU), Jalandhar, and other individuals from Jammu, while five have safely returned to their home towns. The Bhavan has arranged accommodation, food and transportation for them.
Resident Commissioner Gaurav Uppal has been proactive, interacting with the evacuees and collecting their details to further facilitate support. In addition, a medical camp has been set up at Telangana Bhavan to ensure immediate health check-ups and necessary care.
Uppal stated that close liaison is being maintained with district administrations in the border regions from where distress calls are being received.
Requesting anonymity, a scholar from IIT Jammu described the recent drone attacks to TNIE as “horrible”. “I was on the terrace talking to my mother when I saw lights in the sky. Within minutes, there was a loud sound and then blackout,” he recalled.
He said that students from Hyderabad had just boarded a bus to Jammu railway station on Friday to take a train to Delhi when they saw a drone that had been shot down fall barely yards away. It took the group more than a day to finally reach Delhi where they made their way to Telangana Bhavan. He said that while the ceasefire may have been declared, he saw no reason to trust Pakistan.
Vanamala Durga Prasad, from Miryalaguda in Nalgonda district, told TNIE: “I travelled from LPU to Delhi by train after watching videos circulating in college groups that showed drones flying near the university.”
In Delhi, Prasad made his way to Telangana Bhavan. “I felt relieved after reaching Telangana Bhavan,” he said, calling it a safe zone compared to the tense atmosphere he had left behind. “I hope to catch a flight to Hyderabad Sunday morning,” he added.
Chettukindi Suresh from Kukatpally, Hyderabad, is a third-year B.Tech Computer Science student at LPU. He said students were left to make their own travel arrangements. “The college did not provide any facilities, so we booked our train and flight tickets on our own,” he said. They travelled from Punjab to Delhi by Vande Bharat Express and are scheduled to fly to Telangana on Sunday.
Suresh too mentioned the drone was shot down by India, which fell around 10 km away in Jalandhar. “Everything was normal in the morning, but the night posed some issues,” he stated. Suresh mentioned that there was a complete blackout from 6 pm on Friday to 7 am on Saturday, although mobile networks remained functional, allowing students to stay in touch with family.
“I was feeling scared even though nothing happened within the university,” he added, saying the management had advised students to stay indoors and avoid gathering in groups.