Former Pilot Helps 22 Odia Workers Stuck In Sri Lanka To Fly Back Home

Bhubaneswar: A former pilot with Air India came as a godsend for 22 Odia workers who were stranded in Sri Lanka for the past four months due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Vivek Shanbhag, now the managing director of Chennai-based charter flight company Aries Enterprises, even used money from his own pocket to evacuate the stranded workers. While one group was flown back to Chennai on Friday, another group arrived on Saturday.

“They had no money and were struggling for food. They were desperately trying to get back home,” Shanbhag told The Times of India. But since international flights were restricted and unaffordable, they were stuck in Sri Lanka, he added.

A few days ago, the workers got in touch with the Indian High Commission in Colombo. The authorities there then contacted Shanbhag, whose company’s charter aircraft fly Indian seafarers to the Sri Lankan capital for change of crew.

“All it took was one phone call. We wasted no time and sent the flight to bring them back home. However, all this was possible because of help from the governments of both countries,” said Shanbhag, who retired as a pilot from Air India after 31 years of service.

After landing in Chennai, the workers were kept in quarantine on the campus of a private college for a day. Later, Shanbhag’s firm arranged for buses to ferry them back to Odisha. Before leaving, the workers were also provided with water bottles, dry rations and other essential items.

Shanbhag has also been flooded with calls for help from workers stuck elsewhere. “We might take up another operation soon,” he added.