80 Punjab passengers reach home as flight with 153 Indians from Dubai lands at Chandigarh airport

Chandigarh, June 3

A special Air India flight has brought back 153 stranded Indians from Dubai under the Centre's Vande Bharat Mission, Chandigarh international airport officials said on Wednesday.

The AI 1916 flight landed at the international airport on Tuesday night.

This was the third flight under the mission to land here. Earlier, 244 Indians were brought back through special flights from New York and Ukraine's capital Kiev. 

Eighty of the passengers who landed on Tuesday here belonged to Punjab, the officials said. 

Thirty-seven of them belonged to Himachal Pradesh; 13 from Haryana; 11 from Chandigarh; four each from Delhi and J-K; and two each from Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh.

All passengers will be taken to their home districts under the supervision of officials where they will be quarantined according to the government guidelines.

All precautionary measures related to COVID-19 were at place at the international airport. The passengers were screened by the Punjab Health Department authorities.

The Centre had recently said the mission to bring back stranded Indians will continue till June 13 and the extended phase will cover 47 countries. 

As per the government policy, Indians having "compelling reasons" such as pregnant women, elderly people, students and those facing prospects of deportation are being brought back. PTI