With news of violence, frequent blaring of sirens, and limited communication, many students said they were under immense pressure from their families, urging them to leave.
Published May 10, 2025 | 9:27 PM ⚊ Updated May 10, 2025 | 9:27 PM
Over 220 students from Andhra Pradesh and Telangana are studying at NIT, Srinagar. (Representative image)
Synopsis: Several students from Andhra Pradesh and Telangana have been put on buses from Srinagar to Jammu, from where Vande Bharat express trains will take them to Delhi. The Telangana Bhavan is ready to receive the students and arrange for their travel back home.
As tensions flare along India’s borders following the 22 April Pahalgam terrorist attack and the military’s Operation Sindoor on 7 May, hundreds of students from Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, studying at the National Institute of Technology (NIT) Srinagar, have found themselves at the centre of escalating uncertainty.
With several airports shut along the western border and landslides blocking the crucial National Highway-44 in Jammu and Kashmir, students are facing growing fears for their safety and mounting difficulties in returning home.
Speaking to South First, students described the atmosphere on campus as one of anxiety and helplessness.
With news of violence, frequent blaring of sirens, and limited communication, many said they were under immense pressure from families urging them to leave. However, their efforts were further complicated by travel disruptions and the college management’s reluctance to officially permit departures.
Now, a large-scale evacuation effort is underway. Students have been put on buses from Srinagar to Jammu, from where they are being transported in batches via Vande Bharat trains to Delhi.
Officials at the Telangana Bhavan in Delhi have begun receiving groups of evacuated students, providing them temporary shelter and food until they can travel onward to their home states.
The operation is expected to continue over the coming days.
#Telangana has set up a Control Room at Telangana Bhavan in #Delhi for the state’s residents in Bordering States. Speaking to South First, officials informed that they received information regarding 120 students from the state at NIT Srinagar. “All the students are safe. The… pic.twitter.com/CdRp4PuArt
— South First (@TheSouthfirst) May 9, 2025
“Every single student is caught in a precarious situation,” Ritvesh (name changed on request) told South First. A resident of Warangal, Telangana, he is pursuing his BTech degree in Srinagar, where he has been for about four years now.
“On the one hand, everyone around us is telling us that there is no place like NIT Srinagar when it comes to safety. On the other hand, we are panicking, anxious, and constantly scared because of everything happening around us,” he continued.
“Adding to our fears, the mainstream media is also blowing things out of proportion,” he said. “This being a Central Institute, the student population comes from across the country. A lot of us, if not all, want to return home. We constantly get calls from our scared parents, urging us to return,” he explained.
“Living close to the action scene, we are scared. Our parents back home have no way of knowing what’s going on, so they turn to the TV, and that only ends up worsening their fears,” he sighed in frustration.
“Over 220 students are studying here from Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, and we are trying to mobilise support to leave this place,” he informed.
Rotvesh noted that the one thing which alleviates their fears is the fact that there is always some security personnel present on the campus. ‘We see them and feel reassured because we are safe. However, the students still have this overwhelming fear in the back of their heads,” he said, emphasizing the general dread surrounding the students.
While one major challenge to the students’ departure has been the tightened security in Jammu and Kashmir, their college management proved to be another.
Students protesting at NIT Srinagar on 8 May. (Supplied)
“First, we must acknowledge that leaving is already an uphill battle with airports and highways closing down. However, to add to the concern, the management is also not ready to let us go,” Ritvesh reported.
“The management asked the local students to leave, albeit unofficially,” he stated. “The college informed us that we would not be able to avail leave to return home. This is even though they announced online classes amidst the growing conflict,” he lamented.
He reported that following the management’s stance, the students from various parts of the country came together to protest on campus on the night of 8 May. “We sat in protest because we didn’t want to be forced to choose between obtaining the degree we worked hard for and our lives,” he stated.
Numerous students refused to speak to South First as they feared reprisals. “We have not been mistreated on any account. However, with the constant blackouts, blaring sirens, and egregious news coming out, we feel trapped over here,” he reported.
As on 9 May, the officials from Delhi’s Telangana Bhavan told South First that they were mulling an action plan to address the students’ demands.
On 10 May, reports suggest that a “missile-like” object fell in the middle of Srinagar’s Dal Lake. The security forces have reportedly fished the object out for forensic investigation.
Students arriving at Telangana Bhavan in Delhi. (Supplied)
The students at NIT Srinagar said they heard the blast early in the morning. “It didn’t affect us, but we all heard it,” Ritvesh said. He explained that following the explosion, evacuation began at the campus for all the students from other states.
“They’ve put us all on buses headed towards Jammu. From there, we will be taken in batches of about 120 on the Vande Bharat trains,” he informed. He said that from what he could gather from the authorities, all the students were headed to Delhi before they could head to their respective states.
Currently, the students from Andhra Pradesh and Telangana are both expected to reside at Telangana Bhavan. “We have made arrangements for their accommodation and food once they arrive. They will subsequently depart to their respective native place in the two states after they arrive here,” Hyder Ali Naqvi from the Telangana Resident Commissioner’s Office informed.
Speaking to South First, he informed that they did not have a clear number of students arriving from NIT Srinagar.
However, he noted that they were expecting to handle a large number of travellers in the upcoming days. “Our current estimates suggest that at least 2,000 people will be coming to Telangana Bhavan from the border states. They will not arrive all at once but over several days.
Just this morning, a batch of about 25 students arrived at Telangana Bhavan from Lovely Professional University (LPU) in Jalandhar, Punjab, and other institutes in Jammu and Kashmir.
When Pakistan’s strikes continued on Saturday night in Jammu and Kashmir, hours after the two countries agreed to a ceasefire, the students were in Udhampur that was under complete blackout.
(Edited by Majnu Babu).
