Finally, their long wait ends

TDT | Manama

There were smiles everywhere, as Air India flight IX474 carrying 177 passengers from Bahrain touched the tarmac of the Cochin International Airport. The time on the airport clock showed 11:32 pm. Formalities were in plenty.

Glass shielded immigration counters, special health desk manned with doctors and nurses, thermal scan, predetermined health protocols, DRDO’s ultraviolet baggage disinfecting system and then comes the mandatory 7-day institutional quarantine.

All of the 177 passengers and the five infants on board the flight IX474 will have to go through all these formalities before they could give a warm hug of relief to their anxious relatives back home.

But, even though the pandemic has discouraged them from running up to their kits and kins with hands wide open, the relief was all evident on their faces. Nevertheless, they are back home. All else is passable.

30 pregnant passengers

There were 30 pregnant women among the 177 passengers from Bahrain including 5 infants, 152 persons and 25 children from 13 Kerala districts. Four of the passengers requiring emergency medical care were moved to a hospital, while pregnant women, children and senior citizens, as per norms, were transported to their homes.

Rest of the passengers were shifted to quarantine centres in Kochi. Before the arrival of the flight, the entire terminal was cordoned off by police officers, who further ensured necessary personal protection for all at the terminal.

Upon arrival, travellers were escorted by police officers from the aerobridge to their respective destinations, after subjecting them to thermal tests and allowing them to undergo customs and immigration checks.

Health officials are assigned to ensure that passengers are following the mandatory quarantine measures. Landing in the South Indian state of Kerala yesterday was first of the two flights scheduled from Bahrain.

This was also the second flight of the day to land in Kerala from the Gulf region as part of massive exercise undertaken by the Government of India to bring back hundreds of thousands of Indians stuck abroad through a mission christened ‘Vande Bharat’.

The mission kicked off on Thursday with two flights landing in India from the United Arab Emirates with 345 Keralites. The third flight arrived at Karipur by 8:00 pm yesterday bringing back 152 passengers including 84 pregnant women, 22 children and four infants.

They all boarded from Riyadh after conducting thermal tests, though none was given COVID-19 tests. According to reports, five people having health issues were shifted to a medical college hospital in the city.

Ten passengers from neighbouring states of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu also travelled in the flight from Riyadh. All passengers were subjected to COVID-19 rapid tests at the airport before transferring them to their respective destinations.

The ongoing effort according to CIAL (Cochin International Airport Ltd) officials is also the biggest ever carried out by India since the Kuwait war which saw the government bringing 1.5 lakh stranded Indians back to safety by flight.

It was done in 59 days, from 13 August to 11 October 1990, involving almost five hundred flights. ‘Vande Bharat’ aims bringing back some 15,000 nationals from 12 countries on planes and naval ships which also saw the civil aviation ministry’s website crash Wednesday as panicked citizens rushed to register.

CIAL (Cochin International Airport Ltd) officials in Kochi said elaborate arrangements are in place to receive passengers. Separate parking bay and aerobridge are ready for incoming aircraft. Health desks have doctors and nurses to screen passengers.

Up to 10 officials are stationed at immigration counters to screen the passengers, while their baggage gets disinfected by an ultraviolet disinfecting system developed by DRDO. Baggage arriving through conveyor belts will get a sodium hypochlorite treatment first, which will then pass through two separate tunnels with Ultraviolet machines.

Only after these procedures, baggage with reach the carousel area where passengers can retrieve them. Onboard the flights, Air India crew members were fully protected with protective gear to reduce the risk of infection.

Earlier, five passengers from the first batch of passengers arrived in Kochi suspected to have contracted Coronavirus were taken to COVID-19 hospitals but were released around midnight after completing further checkups.

Later, all passengers went into quarantine centres. Eight-five of the 177 passengers arrived at Karipur on day 1 were allowed to remain in quarantine at their respective homes, said state minister KT Jaleel.