Parents of students from Karnataka who are pursuing their education in Ukraine, have their eyes and ears glued to the latest developments in the war zone since the last 48 hours.
A case in point is K.K. Manjunath of Kushalnagar whose son Chandan M. Gowda is studying in 3rd year of medicine at Kharkiv National Medical University in Ukraine.
Mr. Manjunath, former Kodagu district Congress president and former school teacher, said that his son and a few others from Karnataka are holed up in an apartment since the outbreak of war on Thursday. “They have been alerted by the local authorities to move to either the bunkers, metro station or to the basement in case of any impending danger,” said Mr. Manjunath.
He said Chandan was constantly in touch with the family but learnt from him that food they had stockpiled was fast running out and so was drinking water. ‘’If the war prolongs, then electricity will also be cut off and then mobile phones cannot be charged, and there are concerns that they will not be able to be in touch as at present,” said Mr. Manjunath.
The district administration has appointed nodal officers to collect details of individuals stranded in Ukraine but Mr. Manjunath said any talk of evacuation did not make sense at this juncture. “It is ok in the case of those in Western Ukraine. But the city where my son and hundreds of other students from India are pursuing their education has no air, road or rail connectivity and is cut off. Indian officials have advised them to drape the taxi with Indian flag so as to alert both the sides that they are from a friendly country. But no taxi or vehicle is on the road and hence they cannot go to the bordering countries like Romania from where the evacuation is planned,” said Mr. Manjunath. There are three other students from Kodagu who are also stranded in Ukraine, he added.
Mr. Manjunath said he and his wife L.R. Kavitha, a teacher, were hopeful that the war will not prolong and would end soon and bring them respite from the tension they are undergoing.
Meanwhile, the authorities in Mysuru said they have collected details of a few more students from the district who are in Ukraine and have passed it on to the Government for action.
