Kuala Lumpur/Lima/Bhubaneswar: A couple from Nabarangpur, who has been stranded at an airport in Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia since March 17 has urged Odisha government's help in returning home from the foreign country.
As per reports, Shankar Haldar who recently married Pallavi Mishra from Nabarangpur were on a honeymoon trip to Malaysia. Even though the couple had booked a return flight ticket to India, the rising cases of Coronavirus infection played spoilsport in their plan.
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Sources said their scheduled return flight to Bhubaneswar on 17th March got cancelled and as they could not get tickets in any other flight to India they were left stranded in the airport.
To add more to their plight, the Government of India recently informed that it would shut down its airspace from March 20 to 31 thereby effectively barring all flights from foreign countries to land in India.
The stranded couple has alleged that neither Odisha government nor the central government is doing anything to rescue them from Kuala Lumpur.
https://youtu.be/fL-9q9ubQTE
In a WhatsApp video seemingly recorded at the airport, Pallavi Mishra described her ordeal. “We have been stranded at Kuala Lumpur airport for three days. We had even pondered upon the idea of taking an indirect flight to India through Singapore, but that option also seems to have gone now as Indian Government has barred all international flights.”
“We have run out of money and with that all options to get back to India. So I request the Indian Embassy and the External Affairs Ministry to help us as soon as possible,” appealed Pallavi.
Pallavi’s husband, Shankar said, “There are a lot of Indian tourists stuck in the airport like us. We are in a lot of trouble here. People can’t get their medicines here. Even food and water is a tough ask here at the airport.”
Shankar further appealed, “All my tweets to the Indian Foreign Ministry seem to have gone unanswered. So I request the Odisha government to kindly take steps to rescue us from this ordeal.”
Two Odia Businessmen In Peru Suffer Same Fate
Not only the Nabarangpur couple, two Odias, Sanjeev Kumar Mohapatra and Shailendra Narayan Das who had gone to promote Indian trade and craft outside the country have been stranded in Lima, the capital city of the Latin American country, Peru.
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As per reports, the duo was invited by India Trade Promotion Organisation (ITPO) under the Union Ministry of Trade and Commerce to participate in the trade exhibition called ‘India Show’ from 11-15 March 2020 in Lima.
They were scheduled to return on 17th March but the outbreak of Covid 19 forced them to stay put in Peru as the South American nation shut down its airspace and India too barred entry of all international flights from Thursday.
In a WhatsApp video, Sanjeev, one of the two stranded Odias said, “We want to return India as soon as possible. I request the Indian government and Odisha government to rescue us from here.”