CHANDIGARH What started as a leisure trip to Dubai for Neeru Garg, a government college principal from Punjab, soon turned into a nightmare as Iranian strikes on the city shut down the airspace and left her and her family stranded in Sharjah without money or essential medicines.
Garg, who is the principal of SSD Girls’ College in Bathinda, appealed to the Union government to provide immediate assistance to help evacuate her and other Indian passengers.
“It was a five-day trip and we thought it was the last day of the trip. We even exhausted all our money as we were preparing to return on the IndiGo flight, which was booked for Amritsar,” she said in a video shared on social media on Saturday.
She and some other Indian travelers also claimed that they were stuck at Sharjah International Airport.
“We completed all the formalities, but when we came for the security check at 1.30 pm, they asked us to come at 2.30 pm. At 2 pm they informed us that all flights were cancelled,” she added.
Garg claimed that when the airport authorities asked where they should stay, as there were no accommodation arrangements, they were not given any additional information.
“We ask the government of India to listen to us, as many passengers are stranded, and there is panic. People are being harassed, many are sick, but no one here is listening to us,” she said.
In another video shared on Sunday, the principal of the government college said they were asked to leave the airport at 10pm on Saturday, as she expressed her displeasure over the aviation authorities not directing them into an uncharted area.
“We kept sitting outside the airport for half an hour on Saturday wondering what to do next. We checked hotels and they were all booked. Then we got a hotel 20 kilometers away at exorbitant prices,” she said.
She added: “Today, we were asked to leave the hotel. We could not understand what to do next. We have run out of money. Our basic medicines are not available now. There is no one here to guide us.”
Garg claimed that attempts to call the toll-free number of the Indian Embassy in the UAE were not answered.
Another Indian traveler at Sharjah Airport said that passengers were informed of the cancellation about an hour before the scheduled take-off time.
“We are appealing to the Indian embassy that we are stuck. We cannot get out because our visa has expired. People are afraid whether they will be able to get out or not,” he said.
Another passenger urged the Government of India to make arrangements for their safe return.
In view of flight cancellations in the wake of the escalating security situation in the Middle East, the Ministry of External Affairs on Sunday advised foreign nationals in India affected by travel disruptions to contact the concerned authorities for visa extension or regularization of their stay through the nearest Regional Foreigners’ Registration Office.
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