As many as 57 pilgrims from Kargil district in the Union Territory of Ladakh, who had been quarantined in Iran, returned to their hometown on a special flight on Tuesday morning.

Scores of pilgrims from Kargil are stranded in Iran, one of the global hotspots of the novel coronavirus, media reports said.

The Deputy Commissioner of Kargil, Baseer-ul-Haq Chowdary, told media that the pilgrims and students had been put in isolation. They arrived on a special flight that picked them up from the city of Hindon in Iran. Chowdary added that the Kargil administration is actively pursuing the return of the next batch.

Some of the group members had died due to COVID-19 in Iran, while others had been asked to stay in the country until they completed their 14-day quarantine period.

Meanwhile, Ladakh MP Jamyang Tsering Namgyal has sought the Centre's intervention for sufficient and fair distribution of groceries and financial assistance to the poor in the Union Territory. In a letter to Ladakh Lt Governor, R K Mathur, and the Union Home Ministry, Namgyal expressed concern over the problems faced by the people in his constituency.

He said he was receiving persistent calls and messages for evacuation of patients, students, pilgrims and workers from Ladakh, stuck in various parts of India and abroad. People were also raising demands for financial assistance , especially from labourers and bread-winners, to pay their room rents, electricity bills, school fees, and other expenses, Namgyal said in his letter.

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