3-month wait ends, chartered flight brings 185 home from Doha

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Bengaluru:16.06.2020

After an agonising wait for over three months, 185 people from Karnataka, including five infants, returned to Bengaluru on a chartered flight from Doha, Qatar, on Monday evening.

The passengers, mainly those who lost their employment and were struggling to survive in the Gulf country, will be reunited with their families following quarantine procedures.

Over 30,000 people from Karnataka live and work across Qatar, and the Covid-19 crisis dealt a severe blow to some. With international flights to India suspended following the nationwide lockdown, those whose work visa expired were facing a tough time overseas. Kannada association members in Qatar had been helping them for weeks.

While a Vande Bharat Mission flight from Doha to Bengaluru brought some Karnataka natives here on May 22, nearly 4,000 were still stranded. “Considering the crisis, we had been requesting the Indian embassy in Doha and the Karnataka government to grant permission to operate chartered flights to Bengaluru and Mangaluru. Much to our delight, we received nod to operate the first chartered flight to Bengaluru on Monday,” said Subramanya Hebbagalu, joint secretary, Indian Community Benevolent Forum (ICBF) in Qatar.

The flight landed at KIA around 6pm. “The travellers were mostly workers struggling to pay for food as they were unemployed for days. We have requested for three more chartered flights through Karnataka Sanga Qatar and ICBF. Official approval is awaited,” Hebbagalu added.

Over 3,000 more people from Karnataka have registered with Indian authorities in Doha hoping to get seats on a plane to India. Meanwhile, an Air India flight will bring passengers from Doha to Mangaluru under the third phase of Vande Bharat Mission, sources said.

The passengers mainly included those who had lost their jobs overseas