BENGALURU: The government on Friday said 346 people from Karnataka are stranded in Ukraine and all of them are students pursuing MBBS there.
Among them, 115 are from Bengaluru, 30 from Mysuru, 24 from Vijayapura, 22 from Bagalkot, 16 from Tumakuru and 14 from Haveri.
Manoj Rajan, commissioner of Karnataka State Disaster Management Authority (KSDMA), said: “All this information collected at the 24/7 control room has been shared with the ministry of external affairs and embassy of India, Kyiv, to make all possible arrangements for the safe evacuation of stranded students hailing from Karnataka.” Rajan has been appointed the nodal officer to facilitate safe movement of the stranded.
According to him, MEA teams were sent to the land borders of Ukraine in Hungary, Poland, Slovak Republic and Romania on February 24 and they are at strategic locations for safe evacuation from alternative routes. “We only request people to stay calm and face the situation with fortitude, and be assured that the solution for safe evacuation is being worked out on a mission mode,” he added.
The state government has launched a portal — http://ukraine.karnataka.tech — which can be accessed on mobile also, to collect information of those from Karnataka stranded in Ukraine. “Once we get the information from the app, it will be sent to the control rooms of MEA and KSDMA, which will talk to the informants, give the latest updates and seek further information,’’ he added.
Earlier in the day, chief minister Basavaraj Bommai spoke to external affairs minister S Jaishankar regarding the safety and evacuation of students from the war-torn country. He tweeted: “Today morning I spoke to External Affairs Minister Jaishankar, he has gathered complete details. Several students who had gone to study medicine there from Karnataka are at a place called Kharkiv among others, they are all in touch, they are told to stay in a safe place.”
Speaking to reporters later, he said, the Centre is making efforts to evacuate people, and Russian-speaking diplomats are being sent to Ukraine. “Efforts are being made to bring them back via land route, using diplomatic channels, as air space is closed there. There is also a thinking that people stranded in western Ukraine can be moved, but looking at the right time and security, the Indian embassy will give instructions in this regard. It is in touch with all students,” he added.
He said he has requested the external affairs minister to make necessary arrangements like food for the students. “Jaishankar has instructed that until the war situation eases to an extent, everyone (stranded there) needs to be cautious. There has been no report of harm to anyone so far, but there are reports of bombing at some places like near Kharkiv,” Bommai added.
