As the situation in Ukraine deteriorates, the latest data shared by the Karnataka State Disaster Management Authority (KSDMA) shows that there are 694 students from 30 districts of the State stranded in Ukraine. Of these, 86 returned by Wednesday.
The highest number of students stranded was from Bengaluru Urban, followed by Mysuru. On the other hand, the data for returnees showed that most students had flown back to Bengaluru from Delhi, and the remaining from Mumbai (16).
On Wednesday, the authority appealed to circulate an advisory from the Indian Embassy in Ukraine to “immediately” leave Kharkiv and proceed on foot to the places mentioned in case they cannot get vehicles. Some students managed to leave the city on their own.
The KSDMA, in a note, said the Government of India - Ministry of External Affairs, Embassies of India in Ukraine and border countries - and the State Government are taking all possible steps to evacuate stranded Indian nationals to India safely.
Listing some ‘reach out mechanisms’, the authority said a 24x7 centralised call centre at the State Emergency Operation Centre (SEOC) was reaching out to all relatives and parents of the stranded students and updating them on the latest measures undertaken, and building the confidence of safe return of their wards.
“The central call centre has spoken to more than 447 families. As many as 30 district call centres do the same functions as a centralised call centre for their districts. The database of stranded students has been circulated to the districts. The district administration has made special teams to reach out to parents, explaining the measures taken by the GoI, GoK and evacuation methodology and, more importantly, talking about confidence-building measures. The districts have reached to 314 families till now and called up 425 families till now,” the press statement said.
