Had to run for bunkers within 1 minute after sirens went off, say Odia students after return from Israel

Time of India

24-06-2025

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Bhubaneswar: At least 13 students from Odisha, who were pursuing higher education in Israel, safely arrived in New Delhi on Tuesday amid escalating tensions in West Asia. The students were brought back as part of Centre's Operation Sindhu, launched to evacuate Indian nationals from the war-affected nations.
Among them, three students reached Bhubaneswar airport from Tel Aviv via Jordan and thanked the Indian govt for their safe evacuation.
"We are relieved after reaching home safe as the situation there was getting worse. We used to get messages on Home Front Command — a mobile app — minutes before the missile attacks. We used to get instructions to run to bunkers within 60-90 seconds once the sirens were blown. After 15-20 minutes, we got messages that it was safe to come out.
Israeli people and authorities were very cooperative and took good care of us. After every missile attack, they used to call and ensure we were okay," recounted Venkatesh Varma, a 32-year-old research scientist at Israel Institute of Technology (Technion) in Haifa.
Priti Subhadarshini, another research scholar at Tel Aviv University, said she has not slept properly since June 13 when the conflict started. "We had to stay awake as we had to rush to bunkers immediately after we got instructions.
We used to run to bunkers every 2 to 3 hours, which made us sleepless and tired. The evacuation process was well-coordinated as we had to cross borders and come through Jordan. Indian embassy was very supportive throughout, unlike people from other countries who were asked to pass the borders on their own.
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However, Priti said the situation in Israel is not as bad as it is being shown in some social media platforms. "I would urge people not to believe what they see on social media because much misinformation is being circulated.
There are AI-generated images of war-torn cities going viral on the internet, which are not accurate and should not be believed at all," said Priti, who is doing PhD in plant science.
There are bunkers, fortified bomb shelters every 500 metres, which were frequented by residents due to the constant threat of missile attacks. The students said Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Haifa, Ramat Gan, Beersheba and Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot are the places that faced missile attacks from Iran.
"We heard the first siren on June 13 when Israel launched Operation Rising Lion. Within 10 minutes, everything was closed.
Missiles in Israel were nothing unusual, but the missiles launched from Iran were technologically advanced, though most of them were intercepted. During the missile attacks, we took shelter in bunkers, which got shaken. As days passed, the situation became worse with more frequent attacks, and anxiety levels increased," said Arup Sahu, another research scholar from Odisha who was in Haifa. "The evacuation was well-coordinated, from constant monitoring to providing shelter and finally evacuating us, everything was taken care of by the Indian embassy. We are just happy to be home," he added.
State govt has been making arrangements for the arrival of other Odia students from Delhi to Bhubaneswar in subsequent flights on Tuesday night and Wednesday, official sources said.