Government opens control room to help locate kin stranded in Ukraine

The state government has also asked all district magistrates to find out if any person under their respective jurisdiction is stuck in that country

Indian students sheltered at a school, which was turned into a temporary base for Indian embassy in Ukraine.: Biswajit Haldar

TT  Special Correspondent   |   Calcutta   |   26.02.22  :  The Mamata Banerjee government on Friday set up a control room at Nabanna to assist students and others from Bengal who are stranded in the war zone in Ukraine.

The control room will function from 9am to 9pm everyday in two shifts and a senior IAS officer will be in charge. The control room will be manned by WBCS officers, said a source in Nabanna.

The control room, whose numbers are (033) 2214 3526 and 1070, started working and families of 27 students and common people contacted it for help so far, the source added.

“The details of stranded people will be sent to the external affairs ministry with a plea to rescue them at the earliest,” said a source.

Sources in the state secretariat said the control room was set up after the top brass of the government came to know that many students from Bengal were stuck in Ukraine.

“We received information about some students from Siliguri and Murshidabad who are stuck in Ukraine. As we don’t know how many people from the state are stranded in Ukraine, we won’t be able to reach each of such families. The control room was set up to help the families who don’t know where to contact,” said a senior government official.

The response the control received on the first day showed that it was a timely decision, officials said.

Besides setting up the control room, the state government has also asked all district magistrates to find out if any person under their respective jurisdiction is stuck in Ukraine.

“The district magistrates have been asked to send reports on such persons with their phone numbers, passport details and the place where they are stuck to Nabanna at the earliest,” said an official.

Once Nabanna receives the details of the stranded people, the resident commissioner in Delhi would get in touch with the external affairs ministry.

The sources said the state government was also getting in touch with the external affairs ministry to know how many people from Bengal were stuck in Ukraine.

“We are hearing that nearly 20,000 people from India are held up in Ukraine these days. We are trying to get to know whether the ministry concerned has state-wise data,” said a bureaucrat.