Concerns raised on Vande Bharat mission’s first flight arrival in Mumbai

With India’s significant evacuation mission, ‘Vande Bharat’, entering its fourth day, Air India’s first departure trip with 326 Indians from London arrived in Mumbai.

The central government had earlier stated that Air India will release 64 flights in the first week from May 7-13 to pick up around 15,000 Indian nationals and will start repatriation of the stranded nationals from May 7th.

Declaring the victorious arrival of the flight, the Indian High Commission in the UK said that the flight had taken off from London on Saturday with 326 individuals. It later arrived at the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport in Mumbai.

On the whole, approximately 1,373 Indians returned to their native places from overseas on May 10 as eight ‘Vande Bharat’ flights from Dubai, Kuwait, Muscat, Sharjah, Kuala Lumpur, and Dhaka landed in India on the third day of the mission. Aviation Minister Hardee Puri notified the information on his official Twitter handle.

Social distancing norms have been flouted between passengers and their respective families who came to meet at the airport in Mumbai. It became a major concern as two covid-19 positive patients arrived here failed to follow the standards.

The close proximity of passengers and families could cause virus transmission. “What’s the purpose of 14 day quarantine when the passengers are allowed to leave the terminal building without rushing them to the quarantine room,” one senior official expressed his qualm.

The London-Mumbai flight arrived around 1.45 am and all the passengers were allowed to leave after two hours. The Air India flight was jam packed to over limit with 329 travelers on board. However sanitised baggage trolleys were provided and sent to paid quarantine hotels to remain for 14 days.