Odisha evacuates 180 migrants workers stranded in Andaman & Nicobar Islands

Around 180 migrant workers of Odisha were airlifted from Andaman and Nicobar Islands by an Air Asia flight as a part of Odisha government's efforts to bring back all Odias who have been stranded across the country amid the nationwide lockdown.

Bhubaneswar (Odisha): The Odisha government on Monday airlifted 180 migrant workers from Andaman and Nicobar Islands as part of its efforts to bring back all stranded Odias from different parts of the country, officials said.

A special Air Asia flight carrying the migrants from Port Blair airport landed at the Biju Patnaik International Airport.

Dedicated teams of officers of the Odisha government interacted with the administration of Andaman and Nicobar as well as the migrant workers, the official said.

Earlier, all formalities required under COVID-19 protocols were completed and all arrangement made to bring those workers to the airport by picking them up from different islands in the union territory, the official said.

He said the state government has undertaken a mission to safely bring back all migrant workers stranded in different parts of the country.

The government decided that persons stranded in remote parts from where rail services are not available and also travelling on road is not possible, will be evacuated by air.

Over 3 lakh belonging to the state have been brought to Odisha by Shramik trains and many have been brought by road.

More than 600 people have already been evacuated by air from Manipur, Nagaland, Tripura, Meghalaya, Assam, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir, the official added.

(PTI report)