Goans in Maldives arrange own charter back home

PANAJI: After receiving no response from either the Centre or state government to their plea for repatriation, stranded Goans in the Maldives teamed up with Maharashtrians stranded there and chartered a flight to Mumbai.
The group of 170 Indians — 40 Goans and 130 Maharashtrians — arrived in Mumbai on Thursday on an Indigo flight.
The Goans then reached the state on Friday, and are currently placed in quarantine in South Goa hotels.
“When we saw that neither flights to Mumbai nor Goa (from Maldives’ capital Male) were considered for Vande Bharat, we decided to make our arrangements,” one Goan said. “We formed a WhatsApp group, coordinated with the Maharashtra WhatsApp group, and chartered the flight from Male to Mumbai. Indigo helped us get all the flight permissions.”
He said that the Goans reached Goa with the help of Kadamba Transport Corporation (KTC) and Porvorim MLA Rohan Khaunte, who coordinated with the district collectors.
The Goans have been appealing to the Centre and state government to be brought home since April, but received little assistance. “We contacted the Indian high commission in Maldives to guide us through the process and clearances for a private repatriation charter, but there was no response to our plea for help,” one said.
“We received offers from CharterX (Mumbai based), IndiGo and Maldivian Airlines. IndiGo gave us the earliest dates, and hence we chose to fly with them.”
The 40 Goans worked on various islands in the Maldives, and many of them have lost their jobs, been sent on leave without pay, or lost half their pay. From the islands, they got to Male, by air, boat and even seaplane.
“The Maldives economy mainly relies on tourism, with the US and Russia being the main markets,” a Goan said. “Now, the future looks bleak. We don’t even know when we will be able to return to work as most of the resorts have closed. Most of us were living on small islands, with limited daily necessities and medical facilities, and that’s why we thought it’s better to fly home.”
Yet, the group is relieved to be home despite the big hole in their pockets. Each of them spent close to Rs 70,000 for the journey. This included the inter-island transfer to Male airport ($167 per person), Male to Mumbai ($375 per person), Mumbai to Goa by Kadamba bus (Rs 4,000 per person) and seven days paid facility quarantine at Rs 2,500 per person per night.