Team Herald
Panjim: The State government has taken serious note of the chaotic situation at the Dabolim airport on Monday night after the passengers of Dubai passengers refused to go into paid quarantine.
The government in a statement through Health Secretary Nila Mohanan said that the incident was regrettable, avoidable and unacceptable.
Addressing media, Mohanan said “Very unfortunate set of events happened at the Dabolim airport when the Vande Bharat flight from Dubai landed at the airport, which had passengers from Goa and few from Maharashtra and Karnataka.”
She said that there were around 155 passengers in total. “When the passengers reached the Dabolim airport, they started raising a hue and cry that they will not go to paid institution quarantine and that they want to go to their homes. This made a very, very unpleasant situation at the airport. In fact their behaviour is in violation of a whole lot of clauses that have been laid down under the Ministry of Home Affair (MHA) and Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) guidelines,” Mohanan said.
The health secretary added that it was very regrettable that this kind of behaviour was displayed by Goan brothers and sisters, who came from Dubai.
“We were here to welcome and receive them but the whole incident was regrettable because they went back on their commitment, which they had signed at the time of boarding the flight. A completely avoidable set of circumstances,” she said.
Further elaborating, she said, ‘the reason why we really feel sad was there were some pregnant ladies amongst them and children.’
“The procedure which would have taken an hour or so went on for six-seven hours only because of the reluctance of these passengers to abide by the rules and regulations that they had signed. So the arguments and altercations that happened at the airport were completely unacceptable,” she added.
She also said the argument was not just a violation of the MHA and MEA guidelines but also the Disaster Management Act because this type of the disturbance of smooth flow to the movement of passengers who have come.
“Besides the guidelines, a Whatsapp Group is created by the officer of the passengers three days prior to journey and informed about the protocols to be followed and details about hotels. Despite this type of behaviour was displayed at the airport,” she stated.
The govt has taken serious note of this incident. “This kind of incidents demoralise the government’s efforts to facilitate the repatriation of Goans stranded abroad,” she added further.
