Over 7,000 people evacuated in J

Gandhinagar, Feb 11 (UNI) The Indian Air Force has evacuated over 7,000 people, who were stranded due to snowfall in Jammu and Kashmir in the last oneweek, Chief of the Air Staff Air Chief Marshal F H Major said here today.

Talking to mediapersons at the headquarters of the South-Western Air Command (SWAC), Air Chief Marshal Major said, ''The IAF planes have made several sorties between Chandigarh, Udhampur and Srinagar to air-lift the people both ways, who were stranded due to heavy snowfall in Jammu and Kashmir.'' ''I don't have the exact information about the number of people evacuated but, it is over 7,000. Though it was not the largest evacuation of civilians done by the IAF in its history, but still it was large,'' he said.

The Air Chief said ''The monetary cost of the operation is not important for the IAF when it comes to perform in times of national calamity, it is upto the Government to consider it. We just perform to assist and support the civil administration.'' UNI MP NM SK HT1902