MUMBAI, March 4 -- Around 160 people from Maharashtra, including 84 students stranded in Dubai amid the US-Iran war, arrived in Mumbai on two chartered flights late on Tuesday. The students, most of them from Indira University in Pune, along with three faculty members, were flown in on two Embraer aircraft of Star Air. The arrangements were made by deputy chief minister and Shiv Sena chief Eknath Shinde, whose party reached out to the students and to tourists anxious to get back home as the war in West Asia escalates. The flights were among several being operated under tense conditions to bring back Indians stuck in the Middle East. The students who returned on Tuesday were in Dubai on a five-day "international immersion programme" and were to return last week when war broke out, according to Prof Chetan Wakalkar with the university. Anagha Joshi, the university's vice-chancellor, said that when Shinde learnt of the stranded students, he asked an industrialist friend to meet the students in Dubai. Nihal Gawas, one of the students, said, "While leaving Dubai, we saw an explosion." Another student, Nikhil Patil, said, "Our parents were very worried. Our college made excellent arrangements, and were sent our parents videos of us eating and resting in the hotel, which calmed them." On arrival, the students and others were met by Sena leaders at the Mumbai airport, including Andheri east MLA Murji Patel, party spokesperson Shaina NC, and leaders like Deepak Sawant, Subhash Kanta Sawant and Kunal Sarmalkar. The party also organised transport to take the passengers to their destinations, said Shaina NC. Shakuntala Kashid, a resident of Kolhapur, was on her first visit to Dubai with her sons Hemant and Amit. She said, "We were sightseeing, and while returning to our hotel, we suddenly saw an explosion at a hotel. We are grateful to God for bringing us home safely." Keshav Vekahnde from Kalyan was visiting Dubai as a tourist. "We were helpless and are grateful to Shinde for bringing us back home." Meanwhile, in a media statement, the Union civil aviation ministry said it is continuously monitoring the evolving airspace in West Asia and its impact on international flight operations. A total of 1,221 flights by Indian carriers and 388 flights by foreign carriers have been cancelled, to date, due to the war in the region. However, airlines have been bringing Indians back, including a total of 24 flights operated by Indian carriers to various destinations around the country on Tuesday. In addition, Emirates and Etihad airlines operated nine flights from the Gulf to India in the last 24 hours, the statement said. Indian carriers are planning 58 more flights on March 4, including 30 by IndiGo and 23 by Air India and Air India Express. Foreign carriers operating between India and the Middle East are also undertaking limited operations, according to the media statement....