Mumbai: An Air India flight carrying evacuees from the war-hit Ukraine is expected to land here later in the day, the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA), officials said.
Union Minister for Textiles Piyush Goyal is likely to receive them at the airport, along with other officials.
The CSMIA has geared itself to handle the evacuees reaching here by AI-1944 with a special corridor and all necessary facilities.
As per Centre’s guidelines, all the students shall undergo a mandatory temperature check and will be required to produce a Covid-19 vaccination certification or a negative RT-PCR report on landing.
If they are unable to show these documents, they will be made to undergo a RT-PCR test, at the airport, free of cost, and permitted to leave only if they test negative.
For those testing positive, they shall be clinically managed as per the government protocols including quarantine or treatment.
The CSMIA has also fenced a special area at the airport for them to sit, giving them free WiFi access, food, water and medical assistance if required.
An estimated 1,200 students from Maharashtra, besides some who had gone for business or tourism purposes, are stranded in Ukraine, as their concerned families await their news.
Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has directed the state officials to coordinate with the Centre for the evacuation process and extend all possible help to the evacuees.
Congress President Nana Patole and Maharashtra Minister Vijay Wadettiwar said the state government has managed to contact over 350 of the stranded persons from Maharashtra.
Minister Uday Samant wrote to the Centre three days ago seeking urgent assistance for evacuating the stranded people including those from Maharashtra.
Over two dozen students are from Mumbai, plus others from Thane, Palghar, Ratnagiri, Nagpur, Pune, Aurangabad, Sindhudurg, Kolhapur and different districts or cities.