Terrified British tourists and expats face ‘living on the streets’ as they remain stranded in India after their flights home were cancelled.
A junior doctor turned current Miss England is one of thousands of Brits stranded in India has pleaded for help from the British government to get her home – so she can help save lives from coronavirus.
Bhasha Mukherjee, 24, has been touring the world as Miss England to carry out humanitarian charity work, after taking a career break from her role as junior doctor at Pilgrim Hospital in Boston, Lincolnshire, in November.
She arrived in India at the start of March to begin a four week trip when the spread of COVID-19 took hold globally, leaving the pageant winner feeling ‘guilty’ as colleagues back home endured 13 hour shifts to tackle the deadly virus.
Despite her best efforts to return to the UK to resume work Ms Mukherjee has been unable to secure a flight after the Indian Prime Minister imposed a travel ban and cancelled all flights leaving the country.
Bhasha Mukherjee, 24, has been touring the world as Miss England to carry out humanitarian charity work, after taking a break from being a junior doctor at Pilgrim Hospital, Lincolnshire
Ms Mukherjee, who is currently self-isolating with family in Kolkata, has begged the British government to help bring her back so she can help the NHS.
India’s Union Health Ministry have the count of individuals infected in the country stands at 450, with nine known to have died from COVID-19.
The beauty queen said: ‘It was last week that everything started to change very rapidly. I started getting emails from work asking me to return.
‘My colleagues were telling me they are doing 13 hour shifts seven days a week and having to do night shifts too. When I heard that I felt so guilty, I really wanted to go back to work.
‘I knew how badly I was needed so I emailed telling them I was willing to come back but now I’m stuck here and I don’t know when I will be able to come home.
Despite her best efforts to return to the UK to resume work Ms Mukherjee has been unable to secure a flight after the Indian Prime Minister imposed a travel ban and cancelled all flights
‘I had a flight booked for Saturday morning but after four hours of waiting on the runway the captain told us to disembark from the plane and all other flights had been cancelled due to a national travel ban.
‘It would be really helpful if the UK government could do something to help British nationals get home.
‘I know this is a global pandemic but I have no idea how to handle the situation.
‘As Miss England you are expected to wear the crown and dress up but I kept looking at the news and seeing the death toll rising in the UK and I didn’t feel like dressing up.’
Ms Mukherjee was born in Kolkata, India, but moved to Derby with her parents and brother when she was nine years old.
Last August, the talented beauty started her first shift as a junior doctor just hours after taking home the Miss England crown.
She arrived in India at the start of March to begin a four week trip when the spread of COVID-19 took hold globally, leaving the pageant winner feeling ‘guilty’ as colleagues fought the virus
At the start of this month she flew back to her country of birth to start a humanitarian tour with the Coventry Mercia Lions, a group that supports several international charities, and her mother, Mita.
But on Saturday Ms Mukherjee’s trip was cut short and she was forced to leave her mum behind to fly from Delhi to Kolkata to stay with her aunt, uncle and grandmother after her mum was unable to book onto the same flight – missing Mother’s Day with her daughter.
Now Ms Mukherjee’s mother has been forced to stay in Delhi where they left each other and stay with other family friends for the foreseeable.
Ms Mukherjee said: ‘I booked the first flight I could after my last commitment in India, it was a week before we were meant to be flying to Pakistan for our next trip.
‘When we got to the airport there were lots of flight cancellations. The Prime Minister of India had made an announcement about imposing a national curfew and a travel ban from the following day.
‘We were hoping to be out of the country by the end of the day because it would be the last day that we could travel. I got on the flight and they started doing the safety checks.
‘I actually fell asleep because it was really early in the morning but when I woke up an hour had gone by and we were still on the ground.
After her flight home was cancelled while she sat on the runway the Miss England beauty queen has said she is relying on the British government to get her home
‘I asked the flight attendant and she told me they were trying to fix a technical problem with the aircraft. After another couple of hours the captain asked the passengers to disembark from the plane and told us that it wouldn’t be going.
‘It was such an anxiety provoking situation I thought how am I going to get home and back to work.
‘Everyone was crying, desperately trying to get home. I felt like a refugee. Now I’m here I’m having to self isolate because my grandmother is 92 and vulnerable. I’m literally stuck in my room feeling completely useless.’
Miss Mukherjee, 24, is currently in isolation in Kolkata, awaiting information from the government
A single rescue flight has been put on to bring British Nationals home from Goa, south India, tomorrow after tourists were reportedly thrown out of their hotels amid the coronavirus outbreak.
Up to a million UK tourists are believed to be stranded abroad, with The British High Commission in India announced this morning that it would be putting on another TUI flight tomorrow, with just 123 seats available, after an earlier flight filled up.
Departing 01:50 on 25 March from Goa to Manchester, the flight is now full, with the British High Commission in India warning ‘we cannot guarantee the availability of seats ‘.
Among those who remain stranded is credit control manager Stephanie Pollard, 29, currently in Goa, who has revealed that tourists are being told to leave their hotel rooms.
Ms Pollard told the MailOnline: ‘We are worried that the situation is getting worse, and people are becoming much more hostile towards tourists now, telling them they have to leave hotels, they are then faced with the problem that new hotels won’t accept them.
‘We worry what will happen, with regards to medical attention for tourists if or when we contract the virus. The government needs to help us get back home, now. This has been arranged for those stranded in Peru. Why can the same not be arranged for those in India?’
Ms Pollard said: ‘There is no information on rescue flights home. We feel very much abandoned and are increasingly hearing of other countries that are organising to get their citizens out of India despite the flight ban they are able to arrange this, yet the UK government cannot.’