Hurricane Sandy grounds city school kids on NASA trip

The 33 students from Mount St Mary’s School and 16 from Bluebells School were to return to Delhi on Wednesday. The students are from classes VI to X,and some as young as 10.

“We were supposed to take a flight from Orlando to New York on October 29 and then take the flight to India on October 31. However,we came to know that the airports are closed because of the hurricane,” a teacher from Mount St Mary’s Jasmin Nijjar said.

She is among the four teachers who accompanied the students’ group to the US.

“Although we are trying our best keep the children calm,they are homesick. The parents are extremely worried,” said Jose,another teacher from Mount St Mary’s School .

The group will now to reach New York on November 3,but does not have tickets for India.

The CEO of tour operator Astro Tourism,Amit Verma,which arranged the trip,said,“All flights were cancelled because of the hurricane. We are trying to convince Air India to accommodate these students on an early flight.”

But reservations are available as late as November 12 in Air India.

“We are trying to book seats from Newark to Ahmedabad for November 4. We are talking to Air India,but have not received any conformation till now,” Verma said.

About availability of seats in other airlines,Verma said: “Ticket rates are exorbitant. As opposed to a two-way Air India ticket,which costs around Rs 65,000,a one-way ticket of another airlines will cost around Rs 90,000. On the other hand,most airlines have arrangement among themselves to accommodate their passengers during certain conditions. Air India does not seem to have such a policy.”

Parents in Delhi have been keeping themselves up-to-date with the situation in the US.

Kiran Mehta,whose two children are part of this group,said: “We have been glued to the television sets and are following every piece of news on the hurricane. Thankfully,the children were not in New York. My son is a student of Class XI and his classes have started.”

Her son Raghav told Newsline over the phone: “We were excited at the beginning of the trip,but when we got the news about the hurricane and our flight was cancelled,we are feeling very low. We are in touch with our parents,but there are network problems. We have a limited set of clothes and even our pocket money is dwindling.”