PremiumThe ministry of external affairs (MEA) has set up camp offices in Lviv and Chernivtsi towns in western Ukraine to facilitate transit of Indians to Hungary, Romania and Poland
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As Russian troops bore down on Ukraine's capital on Friday, with gunfire and explosions resonating ever closer to the government quarter, anxiety among Indians living in the eastern European country and their family in India rose to inexplicable levels.
In view of this, the ministry of external affairs (MEA) has set up camp offices in Lviv and Chernivtsi towns in western Ukraine to facilitate transit of Indians to Hungary, Romania and Poland, reported news agency PTI.
According to the report, the camp office in Lviv would be able to coordinate the evacuation of Indians to Poland and Hungary while the one at Chernivtsi would facilitate the exit to Romania.
It also said that Russian-speaking officials are being sent to these camp offices to coordinate the transit of the Indians from Ukraine.
India is focusing on evacuating the Indians through Ukraine's land borders with Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and Romania as the Ukrainian government closed the country's airspace following the Russian military offensive.
It has also issued helpline numbers for Indians stuck in Ukraine. They are: toll-free - 1800118797; telephone - 011-23012113 / 23014105 / 23017905; fax : 011-23088124; e-mail: situationroom@mea.gov.in.
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla has also launched a helpline number for the Indian students.
"Many Indian students are stuck there due to the closure of airspace after the outbreak of war in Ukraine. For these students, who are to be helped through the Embassy of India, Om Birla has started 24-hour helpline that are 011-23014011 and 23014022 in situated in New Delhi and 0744-2505555 and 9414037200 situated in Kota Camp office," reads the official statement.
Students from Rajasthan, West Bengal, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Haryana, Punjab, Bihar etc. have contacted this helpline till Friday night.
Government officials said Air India is planning to operate two flights to Romanian capital Bucharest on Friday to evacuate some of the Indians.
Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla had said on Thursday that there were around 20,000 Indians in Ukraine and of them, nearly 4,000 have returned to India in the last few days.
Further, nearly 470 students are expected to exit Ukraine and enter Romania through Porubne-Siret Border on Friday, reported news agency ANI.
To ensure swift help, several states have also set up helplines for stranded citizens in Ukraine.
Check the list below:
Utter Pradesh: The Uttar Pradesh government on Friday issued a helpline number – 94544 41081 – for citizens. It also appointed IAS Ranvir Prasad, Relief Commissioner and Secretary, Revenue Department, as the nodal officer to coordinate the return of the citizens.
Uttarakhand: Uttarakhand Director-General of Police (DGP) Ashok Kumar on Friday said that people in the state can provide details of their kin and friends stranded in Ukraine at the helpline number 112.
After that, necessary steps will be taken to provide assistance to the families and their loved ones stuck in the conflict-hit country.
West Bengal: The West Bengal government opened a helpline number and set up a team for helping Indian citizens. The Control room numbers are 033-22143526 and 1070. The helpline number will be operational from 9 am to 9 pm.
The team will be headed by a senior IAS officer and will be manned by West Bengal Civil Servant officers for assisting and helping the students.
Telangana: The Telangana government has set up helplines at the Telangana Bhavan in New Delhi and the state secretariat.
The helpline numbers at Telangana Bhavan are +91 7042566955, +91 9949351270 and +91 9654663661. The email id is rctelangana@gmail.com. The helpline numbers at the Telangana secretariat in Hyderabad are 040-23220603, +91 9440854433. The email id is so_nri@telangana.gov.in.
Andhra Pradesh: The Andhra Pradesh government on Friday appointed officials to coordinate with the Union external affairs ministry.
The officials include P Ravi Shankar, OSD, (mobile number-9871999055), MVS Rama Rao, Assistant Commissioner (9871990081) and ASRN Saibabu, Assistant Commissioner (9871999430) and email id- rcapbnd@gmail.com.
The helpline number set up is 0863-2340678 and WhatsApp number- 8500027678.
Karnataka: The Karnataka government has appointed a Nodal Officer to facilitate the safe movement of the state's people. For further assistance, it has issued helpline number 0801070, 080-22340676 and email id- manoarya@gmail.com, revenuedmkar@gmail.com.
Odisha: Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Friday announced that the state government will bear the expenses for the return of the stranded citizens of the state from Ukraine.
The government designated Ravi Kant, IPS, Resident Commissioner as the Nodal Officer for the purpose and can be contacted on Mobile/Whatsapp-8527580245 Land line-011-23012751.
Tamil Nadu: The Tamil Nadu government has opened 24x7 help desks and appointed a state nodal officer, who can be reached at +91 9445869848, +91 9600023645, +91 9940256444 or 044-281515288.
The state helpline number is 1070.
The help desk at numbers at Tamil Nadu House in Delhi can be reached at +91 9289516716 or ukrainetamils@gmail.com.
Kerala: The Department of Non-Resident Keralites (NoRKA) had set up a special cell to help stranded people about ten days ago. While those in Ukraine needing assistance have been advised to call the Indian embassy helplines, relatives of Kerala residents stranded in Ukraine have been told to reach NORKA at 1800 425 3939 or ceo.norka@kerala.gov.in.
Haryana: A control room has been set up in Haryana through the foreign cooperation department. It can be contacted on 919212314595 (WhatsApp only) and contactusatfcd@gmail.com.
Mumbai: The residents of the island city stuck in Ukraine can contact on 022-22664232 or on e-mail - mumbaicitync@gmail.com.
Latur district: The district administration in Latur in Maharashtra has set up a control room at the collector's office to provide information to kin of students stranded in Ukraine.
Jalandhar district: The district administration of Jalandhar, Punjab has issued a helpline number 0181-2224417 to gather information about people belonging to the district who are stuck in Ukraine for better coordination for the evacuation efforts.
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