Karwar: Medical student Sneha Hosamani of Mundagod, who has been stranded in war-hit Ukraine informed her parents over the phone that the Ukrainian officials have asked the people to move towards safe places or get shelter in basements and bunkers.
The government has set up temporary camps for the refugees. However, moving towards camps has become a difficult task for the people, with the widespread of the Russian army in various parts of Ukraine.
With the unavailability of transportation facilities, people are spending days in the bunkers and underground tunnels of metro stations, she added.
Meanwhile, a medical student Imran Nazeer Chaudhary (21) of Banavasi has also been stranded in Ukraine.
Imran is the son of Banavasi gram panchayat member Altaf Chaudhary. He is studying MBBS at Vinnytsia National Pirogov Medical University, Vinnytsia for the last three years.
Over a call to his parents, Imran said that he is residing in a hostel in Vinnytsia along with more than 100 Indian friends. As the city is 300 kilometres away from Ukraine’s capital Kyiv, people in the city are safe at present.
However, they are hearing a siren sound every half an hour. There is a movement of huge trucks. The officials of the Indian embassy are in touch with the students and efforts are being made to bring them back to India, he added.
Altaf said, he has appealed to Labour Minister Shivram Hebbar and officials of the district administration to take measures to bring the stranded students in Ukraine to India at the earliest.
Helpline set up for stranded
The district administration has appealed to the families of people from the district who have been stranded in Ukraine after Russia declared war against it, to call on the deputy commissioner office’s control room helpline number 1077, to provide complete details of stranded people.
The district will seek help from the Union government to bring back the stranded people. Hence, the stranded have been asked to follow the Twitter handle of the government and the district administration.
The State government has set up State Emergency Operation Centre. It has appointed a nodal officer to facilitate evacuation and smooth movement of people from the State stranded in the trouble-hit Ukraine to their respective places.
Senior IFS officer and Commissioner for Karnataka State Disaster Management Authority Manoj Rajan is the nodal officer, who will be coordinating with the Ministry of External Affairs, the Indian Embassy in Kyiv and provide all necessary support for evacuation of Indians stranded in Ukraine.
One can call on State helpline number 080 1070, 080 22340676. They can also contact the centre on manoarya@gmail.com or revenuedmkar@gmail.com, said Deputy Commissioner Mullai Mugilan.