Vijayapura: “We have taken refuge inside a metro train station. The Government of Ukraine and the Indian Government have left us at the mercy of God. We are getting no information from the Indian consulate about any decision taken to evacuate us, said Vividha Mallikarjunmath from Ukraine when contacted by News Karnataka while she is stranded in the war-ridden Ukraine.
The Ukraine Government has advised us to store enough food and water. We have stored ration that could last for about two weeks but we are concerned about our safety. We have been hearing sounds of bombing on a regular interval. The situation is so tense that we cannot even venture out of the metro station. Though we were advised to move to Poland for safety but leave alone Poland, we cannot even go out of the city as an emergency has been declared. There is no mode of transport here. We are praying fervently to the Government of India to evacuate us safely and as quickly as possible. There are six other students of Vijayapura with me here,” she added.
Native of Vijayapura City, Vividha is doing her course in Medicine from Ukraine for the last around two years.
While the students are living in fear in Ukraine, the anxiety of the parents whose children are stranded in war-ridden Ukraine is only getting intense as their struggle to bring their children back home safely has continued.
As per the information of the District Administration, till the morning of Friday February 25, as many as 13 students of the District are stranded in different States of Ukraine including its capital Kiev. Majority of the students are studying Medicine in Ukraine.
Meanwhile the parents are making fervent appeals to the Government of India to take immediate rescue measures, and bring their children back to India safely.
“Till the night of Thursday February 24, we could speak to our daughter over the phone from Ukraine after the war broke out but after that the voice and video call facility got disconnected we are now interacting with our daughter only over sms,” said Mallangouda Kavadimatti, father of Suchitra, who has been studying Medicine in Ukraine since last one year. Kavadimatti is an employee in DCC bank and said that he has already made several requests to the Government to save his child.
Similar is the agony of Allamaprabhu Mallikarjunmath whose daughter too is sruck in Ukraine and she too is pursuing Medicines.
He is upset with the Modi government for not taking any steps to save Indians stranded in Ukraine.
“By this time, the Modi Government should have taken concrete steps, at least to bring all the Indians to one place in Ukraine so that they could stay together and could be evacuated easily. But parents like us are watching everything helplessly,” he said.
He however said that he is constantly in touch with his daughter over the phone and her phones are working. “Though she is safe in the hostel with other students, however she said that they are hearing the sounds of bombing at frequent intervals,” he said.
Amid this the District Administration said that they are in constant touch with the officials of the State Government which is sharing every required information about the steps being taken by the Government for the safety of the Indians. The District Administration has given helpline numbers and the numbers of administration staff deputed for sharing any information related to people of Vijayapura District being stuck in Ukraine. The contract numbers are 1077, 08352-221261 and 7019682740.
