Due to air-firing and use of teargas, many afraid to cross border: Mumbai student who returned from Ukraine

Ukrainian artillerymen keep position in the Luhansk region on March 2. PIc/ AFP

After securing a medical seat three months ago, Mumbai-based Suraj Pal shifted to Ternoplis city in Ukraine to complete his graduation. Little did he know that he will have to return, without completing his six-year medical course, as Russia will invade Ukraine.

Pal had to travel for around 8 hours by road to reach the Romanian border. He claims that there was no official to help there. "Our government should deploy some officials on the border too. There is a huge crowd and long queues to cross over to Romania. Due to sub-zero temperatures, no food or water, many students are falling sick. There are no facilities to cater to medical emergencies also," he said.

Narrating his ordeal, he said, "Many students at the border want to cross over but are afraid to do so because of air-firing and use of teargas by the Ukrainian army to control the crowd. Crossing the border takes a lot of time as they allow only 5-10 people in 2-3 hours."

Pal landed in Delhi on Thursday on an Air Force flight. But to get a seat on the plane, he had to spend four days at a shelter in Romania as there was already a long list of students waiting to be airlifted.

Suraj Pal

"I was told that I need to wait for a few days since many other students, who crossed the border before me, were waiting to board the flight. The Indian embassy and Romanian government gave us basic facilities at the shelter," he added.

While a regular academic year starts in September because of Covid-19 the NEET exam results were delayed and the academic year started in December.

Just like many students, Pal too wanted to appear for his first-year medical exam on February 22 and then return. "Earlier, many of my seniors reached out to the Indian embassy and asked them whether we should leave Ukraine. The officials said that it was up to us to stay or leave. There was no concrete reply from them and within a few days the condition aggravated."

Many of Pal's friends booked tickets for February 26-28 but the prices for the earliest flights were around Rs 70k-75k which were not affordable to many. "The flight rates were so high that even if I wanted to leave Ukraine and come back, it wasn't possible. I paid around Rs 30,000 and booked the March 1 flight as it was the earliest cheap flight I could find," he said.

BMC's Covid-19 precautions for those returning from Ukraine

While most of the students returning from Ukraine are vaccinated, they have been asked for home isolation as a precaution rather than getting tested on arrival at the airport.

According to the BMC data, on Wednesday around 181 students arrived in Mumbai of which 31 students were from Mumbai while others were from different states across India.

Speaking about the follow-up on these students, Suresh Kakani, additional commissioner and public health department in-charge at BMC said, "On a daily basis we are sending lists of students to the deputed nodal officer of each state. They will be monitoring at their own state level. We will only be monitoring students from Mumbai."