The Indian Air Force on Friday launched massive relief operations airlifting 100 stranded people from the world's highest Leh-Nubra highway in Jammu and Kashmir.
Heavy unseasonal snowfall had triggered avalanches and roadblocks in Jammu and Kashmir and Uttaranchal areas.
Three giant MI-17 helicopters have been pressed into service on the Leh-Thoise-Leh route. By noon on Friday the IAF had airlifted 100 of the 1,000 stranded on the highway due to blockage of Khardungla pass due to heavy snow.
"If the state government projects a bigger requirement, we will press into service even fixed wing aircraft," an IAF spokesman said. Defence Minister George Fernandes also left for Leh to supervise the relief operations.
With the road link in Leh likely to remain closed for at least a month due to heavy snowfall, Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed requested Fernandes for help to rescue the stranded passengers.
The spokesman said while 300 people were stranded on the Nubra Valley side, there are still 700 on the Leh side.
The IAF also airdropped a doctor and relief supplies near Joshemath in Garwhal Himalayas from a helicopter, where seven persons are feared killed in avalanches on Thursday.
The spokesman said 34 people stranded in the area had been taken to safer places for evacuation on Saturday and extreme weather conditions were making landings in the area both by MI-17 and Cheetah helicopters impossible.
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