19 arrive in private airliner from Ahmedabad

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As many as 19 passengers arrived in Belagavi from Ahmedabad, capital of the high-risk State of Gujarat, ​​​​​on a private airliner on Monday.

A team of district officials, led by Assistant Commissioner Ashok Teli, oversaw the arrangements to send them to institutional quarantine for a week, before they would be sent for home quarantine for seven days. All of them were sent to the CPED grounds on Club Road from where they would be sent to institutional quarantine in either government or private facilities.

While most persons said that they had applied for passes on the State government’s Seva Sindhu portal, only a few said they had got the passes. Rakesh, a IT engineer from Hubballi, who bought tickets to the flight on May 23, said he applied for the pass on Sunday, but he had not got it yet.

Amar Kumar, a businessman from Davangere who was stuck in Ahmedabad, said he had no e-pass issued by the receiving district magistrate. “I had no idea that I had to apply online. I will ask officers in Karnataka to issue me a pass,” he said.

Bunty Arora, a postgraduate student of medicine, said that he had got himself tested for COVID-19 in Ahmedabad and that he had been found negative. “I don’t think I will need to undergo institutional quarantine. But officers are saying institutional quarantine is mandatory. Let us see,” he said.

Mr. Teli said that all passengers had to undergo institutional quarantine for a week. Only pregnant women and breast-feeding babies who test negative are exempted, he said. They can spend one week in home quarantine. Those who violate the rules will face action.

Mahantesh Hiremath, executive engineer from the Urban Development Department, who has been deputed to supervise operations at the airport said a mobile app would track the movement of the passengers. He said each case would be monitored closely.

Flights cancelled

Flights from here to Mumbai, Pune and Mysuru, that were to begin on Monday, have been cancelled.

Flights to Ahmedabad, Hyderabad and Bengaluru will operate, airport director Rajesh Kumar Mourya tweeted on Monday morning. The civilian airport in Sambra had prepared for the operation of 13 flights to connect Belagavi to five cities.