Kol prof camps on Iran-Azerbaijan border, hopes for ‘migration code'
2
Kolkata: Falguni Dey, the geography professor from Kolkata, who was on an expedition mission but got stuck in Tehran, has managed to escape the city unharmed but is now stranded at Astara — the border area of Iran and Azerbaijan.
Dey, who spent sleepless nights amid missile attacks over the past week, is desperately trying to get a migration code to cross the border from Astara, where hundreds of foreign nationals have crowded.
On Wednesday, Dey made several attempts through his friends in India to find out the status of his application with the Azerbaijan authorities. He had filed an application with Azerbaijan for permission to cross the border, apart from an e-visa, even before he left Tehran for the Astara border.
"Every time I open the phone hoping for the mail from the Azerbaijan authorities, I am disappointed each time. There are hundreds of foreign nationals who escaped Tehran and gathered at Astara.
," Dey said.
Over the past week, Dey's life took dramatic turns. After his failed attempt at Mount Damavand owing to bad weather conditions and a blizzard, he came back to Tehran. The day before his scheduled departure, Israel launched attacks on Iran, leaving the country's airspace closed for an indefinite period.
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While he stayed at the hotel in Tehran for three days, Dey realised that he had to move out of the city. On Monday, he made a desperate attempt and took a 1,000 km journey to reach Astara after travelling for nearly 40 hours.
On the road, he spent the night on the floor of a mosque, woke up intermittently at the loud noise of explosions nearby, and kept hoping for a safe journey.
He reached Astara a little after Tuesday midnight.
Little did he know what was in store for him. "I spent whatever I had to reach Astara. When I arrived, I found there are lobbies where people are sleeping. All of them escaped the nightmare in Tehran. I found a place for myself in a corner. I was feeling hungry and started looking for food. The security personnel manning the building were generous enough to share food and water with me," he recounted.
In the morning, he woke up to see hundreds of evacuees queueing up in front of the building.
"This is where they process the exit formalities of the foreign nationals. I looked at their anxious faces and realised what they have been going through," he told TOI over phone.
Meanwhile, Dey came to know that a number of Indians were also moving towards the Iran-Armenia border. The ministry of external affairs already mentioned that "some Indians have already been facilitated to leave Iran through the border of Armenia." But Dey is left with no choice at present as he is facing a severe cash crunch. "Since the banks are closed, I cannot withdraw any money. Armenia is around a 10-hour drive from here, and I don't have the resources to reach there.
At times, I feel depressed. I just want to go back home now," he said.
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