Bandipora (Jammu and Kashmir): In a major airlifting drive, 230 stranded passengers were airlifted to and fro Gurez valley in Bandipora on Saturday. The airlifting drive was conducted by Bandipora District Administration in coordination with the Indian Army and other authorities.
Notably, there were 84 candidates who were expected to appear in the Jammu and Kashmir Services Selection Board (JKSSB) examination on Sunday among the passengers. -Deputy Commissioner, Bandipora Owais Ahmad said that with improvement in the weather on Saturday MI-17 and Aryan Private Helicopter were put into service to airlift the stranded passengers. He said more than 230 passengers were airlifted in 17 air sorties.
"114 passengers were airlifted from Dawar, Kanzalwan, Neeru and Baduaab areas of Gurez Valley to Bandipora while 103 adults and 13 infants were airlifted from Bandipora to Dawar, Kanzalwan and Baduaab areas of Gurez Valley," he added. Owais said the passengers including JKSSB aspirants were stranded and due to bad weather no flight could be operated till Saturday.
