Bhubaneswar, Jun 3 (IANS): Union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has requested for direct flights to Bhubaneswar from Gulf countries, the UK and Sri Lanka to bring back people from the state.

In separate letters to External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri, Pradhan urged for direct flights to Bhubaneswar from cities like Dubai, Doha, Dammam, Muscat, Bahrain, Colombo and London.

The letters were released to the media on Wednesday.

"I have received several representations from Odia persons living abroad requesting for their repatriation directly to Bhubaneswar. The Odia community representatives living in the GCC countries, United Kingdom, and Sri Lanka have made specific requests to travel back from their respective capital cities to Bhubaneswar directly," informed the Minister.

"Since they are in good numbers in these countries, point to point direct flights may be arranged from the cities like Dubai, Doha, Dammam, Muscat, Bahrain, Colombo and London to Bhubaneswar, which would also make commercial sense for the airlines," Pradhan said.

He said this would go a long way in helping them during this time of crisis.