As many as 72 people from Telangana, mostly stranded students, arrived in the capital city of Hyderabad from Manipur's Imphal on May 8, Monday afternoon by a special flight arranged by the state government. Telangana Education Minister Ch Malla Reddy and other senior officials received them at the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport.
"Telangana government has brought 72 students and civilians in distressed condition by direct flight from Imphal to Hyderabad. Another 34 are reaching via Kolkata to Hyderabad by today evening," a government press release said, as per a report by PTI.
Students studying at NIT (National Institute of Technology), IIIT (Indian Institute of Technology), JNIMS (Jawaharlal Nehru Institute of Medical Sciences), and Manipur Agriculture University were among those brought back. Additionally, some distressed civilians, including a one-month-old baby and their parents from the Nirmal district of the state, were also rescued.
"All of them thanked the Telangana government for the humanitarian effort," the release said. "Two more flights are coming by tonight with students and other persons onboard. The Revenue and Police officials made all arrangements to ensure that the students reach their homes safely," Reddy said at the airport.
A student studying for a BTech in Imphal reported that the students in their hostel encountered numerous difficulties regarding food and other essential facilities. "There was no water supply in the hostel. We had to collect water in a bucket every day and use it for our basic daily needs. We thank our KCR (Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao) government for helping us," he said, adding they heard sounds of blasts in their locality in Manipur.
Some students said they would not mind going back to their educational institutions in the Northeastern state as and when the situation improves. In the wake of the riot situation in Manipur, the Telangana government decided to airlift its students and citizens from Imphal to Hyderabad. Telangana Chief Secretary Shanti Kumari contacted her Mainpur counterpart to facilitate the safe transit of the students from there, as per a report by PTI.
