57 airlifted from UP, 170 to be flown today
Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Apr 21: As many as 254 residents of Kargil district in the Union Territory of Ladakh who had gone for pilgrimage to Iran have been tested positive for COVID-19 there and were under treatment at various hospitals while 57 pilgrims from the district who had been evacuated from Iran and were stranded at Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh were airlifted to Kargil today and another 170 people will be brought back to Leh tomorrow.
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Chief Executive Council-cum-Chairman of Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC) Kargil Feroz Khan told the Excelsior that 57 inhabitants of Kargil reached the district today from Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh where they were held up for about a month after being quarantined there following their airlifting from Iran where they had gone on pilgrimage.
“The people have been kept in a hotel for institutional quarantine in Kargil and will be allowed to go to their houses after 14 days. This is in the interest of the people, their families and local population,” Khan said.
On evacuation of Kargil’s 300 pilgrims who were stranded in Iran, Khan said they have reports that 254 of them have tested positive for COVID-19 and were under treatment. Some of them might have been treated, he added but said they were in touch with the External Affairs Ministry for their evacuation.
He expressed gratitude to the Government of India, External Affairs Ministry, Ministry of Home Affairs, Lieutenant Governor of Ladakh, Radha Krishna Mathur, IAF, Army and others for facilitating return of Kargil people.
In a tweet, Divisional Commissioner Ladakh Saugat Biswas wrote: “the UT administration is happy to announce homecoming of the first batch of 57 Iran returnees to Kargil post-quarantine”.
Biswas further said that a special flight from Hindon landed at Kargil at 11.15 am.
Commissioner/Secretary Health, Ladakh Rigzin Samphel told reporters in Leh that another group of 170 pilgrims hailing from both Leh and Kargil districts of the Ladakh Union Territory will be airlifted to Leh tomorrow from different places where they have completed their quarantine.
However, Samphel said, these pilgrims will have to go for fresh quarantine for 14 days before being allowed to proceed home.
Sources said the pilgrims are likely to be airlifted from Jaisalmer and Jodhpur in Rajasthan where they have already completed their quarantine period and were awaiting airlifting to their Union Territory.
Sources said there were over 550 pilgrims hailing from Kargil who were evacuated from Iran in the last week of March following outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic.
“There were over 850 pilgrims from Kargil who had gone for pilgrimage to Iran. About 300 are still in Iran,” they added.
On institutional quarantine of 57 pilgrims who returned today from Ghaziabad, sources said they have come from high temperature areas, whereas the maximum temperature in Kargil is still very low. “The difference in the temperature (between Ghaziabad and Kargil) might cause some health issues among the pilgrims. Therefore, to monitor them, it was decided that they will undergo another quarantine.
On April 17, the UT administration had decided that returning pilgrims would be sent to institutional quarantine for proper and strict medical surveillance in consonance with the protocols of the World Health Organisation and those of the Union Ministry of Health.
The Kargil administration has already designated institutional quarantine facilities at 22 locations with more than 1100 beds.
They said the opening of the 434-km Srinagar-Leh National Highway and operation of flights after lockdown would throw new challenges in the fight against Coronavirus.
The need of the hour is to maintain extra vigilance and strict observance of protocols at all levels to contain the spread of the deadly virus in the district, they added.
Rigzin Samphel, meanwhile, said that the administration has received report of 11 test samples from New Delhi and all of them were negative for COVID-19. Ladakh UT had a total of 18 Coronavirus patients. Of them, 14 have been discharged after being successfully treated leaving only four active cases.
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