198 Indians stranded in the Maldives return

TUTICORIN: A total of 198 Indians stranded in the Maldives – including seven women – arrived in Tuticorin on Tuesday.
The Indian Navy Ship INS Airavat, carrying the 198 people, arrived at V O Chidambaranar Port around 6.45am.
This is the third Indian Navy ship to bring stranded Indians from the Maldives and Colombo under operation ‘Samudra Setu’.
INS Airavat set off from Port of Male on Saturday.
The ship with repatriates -- including 195 from Tamil Nadu and three from Puducherry -- was docked at Berth No 11.
“Sixty-four of them are from Kanyakumari district,” Tuticorin district collector Sandeep Nanduri said after supervising arrangements at the port.
The remaining 131 people are from Perambalur, Pudukottai, Ramanathapuram, Trichy, Sivaganga, Theni, Nagapattinam, Theni, Madurai, Cuddalore, Ariyalur, Salem, Tiruvallur, Villupuram, Virudhunagar, Dindigul, Kallakurichi, Erode, Chennai, Dharmapuri, Karur, Tiruvallur, Tiruvannamalai, Krishnagiri and Vellore.
On arrival, they were screened using a thermal scanner and their baggage was disinfected. They were given refreshment, including milk for children, before they underwent the immigration and customs check. After breakfast, they started to their destinations in State Express Transport Corporation buses.
“At their destinations, they will undergo Covid-19 test twice -- first on reaching there today and the second on the seventh day of institutional quarantine -- before they are sent home,” the collector said.
Chairman of V O C Port Trust T K Ramachandran and superintendent of police of Tuticorin district Arun Balagopalan were present during the process.
Earlier, 686 Indians stranded in Sri Lanka and 700 Indians stranded in the Maldives were repatriated in two separate missions by INS Jalashwa. The forth navy ship carrying nearly 700 people, primarily fishermen from Kanyakumari, Tirunelveli and Tuticorin, is expected to reach Tuticorin by early July.