LUCKNOW: Haji Sajid prostrated and thanked the almighty for safe return to his motherland as soon as he landed at Amausi airport on Saturday night.
Haji was among the 182 UP residents who were brought to Lucknow from Sharjah on an Air India Express flight, as part of the world's largest repatriation exercise, Vande Bharat, being carried out by the Indian government to bring back Indians stuck in different countries.
These passengers were stranded in Gulf countries for over one-and-a-half-months since the lockdown was enforced due to Covid-19 pandemic.
All passengers including women, children and the elderly heaved a sigh of relief and expressed happiness that they were back home after days of uncertainty and anxiety. The entire airport was sanitized in advance and social distancing was followed as passengers came out one after another in batches.
The flight arrived at 9.20pm but it took almost three hours for medical examination of each passenger. Thereafter, all were sent for 14-day quarantine in various places in the city on ambulances parked outside the airport. Those who could afford it were given the option of paid quarantine in five- and three-star hotels, while others were sent to the free of cost isolation centre at a university.
Passengers included tourists from UP as well as those working in Gulf countries.
Smiling from ear to ear, Mohammad Ahmad waved at media persons but was upset as his family could not come to see him due to lockdown.
"I will have to spend 14 more days in quarantine before I would be able to meet my family, but I am happy to reach my homeland. I am thankful to the government for the drive," he said. He also shared that on his last visit, his family had promised to come pick him up in a new car. "But who knew that everything in the world will change in such a short span," he said.
Haji was among the 182 UP residents who were brought to Lucknow from Sharjah on an Air India Express flight, as part of the world's largest repatriation exercise, Vande Bharat, being carried out by the Indian government to bring back Indians stuck in different countries.
These passengers were stranded in Gulf countries for over one-and-a-half-months since the lockdown was enforced due to Covid-19 pandemic.
All passengers including women, children and the elderly heaved a sigh of relief and expressed happiness that they were back home after days of uncertainty and anxiety. The entire airport was sanitized in advance and social distancing was followed as passengers came out one after another in batches.
The flight arrived at 9.20pm but it took almost three hours for medical examination of each passenger. Thereafter, all were sent for 14-day quarantine in various places in the city on ambulances parked outside the airport. Those who could afford it were given the option of paid quarantine in five- and three-star hotels, while others were sent to the free of cost isolation centre at a university.
Passengers included tourists from UP as well as those working in Gulf countries.
Smiling from ear to ear, Mohammad Ahmad waved at media persons but was upset as his family could not come to see him due to lockdown.
"I will have to spend 14 more days in quarantine before I would be able to meet my family, but I am happy to reach my homeland. I am thankful to the government for the drive," he said. He also shared that on his last visit, his family had promised to come pick him up in a new car. "But who knew that everything in the world will change in such a short span," he said.
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