The Indian Air Force (IAF) on Saturday began airlifting passengers stranded after heavy snowfalls that caused the blockage of Srinagar-Jammu highway, the vital road-link connecting the Kashmir Valley with rest of the country.
The IAF flew three sorties to evacuate the passengers stranded in summer capital Srinagar and winter capital Jammu. Kashmir’s divisional commissioner Asgar Hassan Samoon who oversaw the airlifting operation at Srinagar said that as many as 800 passengers were ferried from Srinagar to Jammu and another 300 people from Jammu to Srinagar on the first day.
Meanwhile, tourism officials, police and locals on Saturday rescued seven foreign tourists and three local guides caught in a snow avalanche at Haptkhud near the ski resort of Gulmarg. The snow avalanche, a police spokesperson here said, occurred at about 12.45 pm to the left of Kungdoori/Apharwat ridge. A joint rescue operation was quickly launched by Baramulla police, tourism department and locals of the area. The party rushed to the spot and rescued all persons after utilising the services of Heliski Helicopter. However, four foreigners and two local guides are reported to have sustained minor injuries in the incident.
Following the continuous closure of the 294-km Srinagar-Jammu highway which has not only led to scarcity of essential commodities in the Valley but also left thousands of passengers stranded in the twin capitals and en-route, the Divisional administration here had sought the services of IAF to airlift the stranded passengers.
The IAF pressed IL-76 and AN -32 transport aircraft to airlift the passengers, defence spokesperson S.N. Acharya said adding as many as one dozen sorties were conducted by the IAF pilots to ferry stranded passengers. Those airlifted were mainly women, children and patients besides government officials. The other civilians stranded in Srinagar were also airlifted during return flights to Jammu, he said.