A second batch of 225 pilgrims who had returned from Iran reached here on April 22 in a special Indian Air Force (IAF) plane after undergoing quarantine in Rajasthan, officials said.
The returnees, 208 hailing from Kargil and 17 from Leh, were airlifted from Jodhpur and were subjected to screening by a medical team on their arrival at Leh airport, the officials added.
They were evacuated from Iran by a special plane on March 25 and were put under quarantine at various facilities in Rajasthan.
This was the second batch of the pilgrims who reached the Union Territory of Ladakh within two days. On April 21, the first batch of 57 pilgrims was airlifted from Hindon in Uttar Pradesh to Kargil.
However, the returnees would not immediately join their families as the authorities have decided to put them under a 14-day institutional quarantine at Leh and Kargil towns as a precautionary measure.
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The U.T. administration thanked the Centre, the army and the IAF for prompt evacuation of the pilgrims from Iran and subsequently to Ladakh, the officials said.
While nearly 600 pilgrims from Ladakh were evacuated from Iran in March, there are still about 300 stranded in the foreign country and 250 of them were reported to have tested positive for COVID-19.
BJP MP welcomes their return
Meanwhile, senior BJP leader and MP Ladakh Jamyang Tsering Namgyal welcomed the return of the stranded pilgrims. “It shows the presence of good governance from Kargil to Kanyakumari under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” he said.
The MP praised the Centre for its active consideration of the plea made by the stranded pilgrims and their family members through him for their evacuation in a very short span of time.
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Mr. Namgyal extended his gratitude to Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, Minister for Health and Family Welfare Harsh Vardhan, Lt. Governor of Ladakh R.K. Mathur, concerned officials and the administration of Ladakh for their support in ensuring the evacuation.
The MP said he was in constant touch with the concerned officials for the evacuation of the remaining pilgrims from Iran, besides the evacuation of those, including patients and students, stuck in different parts of the country.
