Excelsior Correspondent
LEH, Sept 11: District administration today successfully evacuated 593 persons, who were stranded in Srinagar and had taken the Srinagar-Leh route to catch flights from here.
Almost 500 among these were the male students of NIT, Srinagar. These people had reached Leh in the early hours of September 10, and were received by district administration comprising Deputy Commissioner and various district officers.
The Deputy Commissioner, Simrandeep Singh, immediately converted all Government Guest Houses into camps for these people and organized free langars during the entire day.
The Radha Swami Satsang Bhawan at Leh and Ladakh Buddhist Association also extended their help by accommodating 300 people and holding langars. The DC took up the matter with Union Cabinet Secretary, Ajit Seth, for immediately providing evacuation facility for these stranded passengers.
Accordingly, four flights were given at the disposal of district administration on free of cost basis for immediate evacuation. About 190 people were airlifted in C-17 Globe Master of IAF, 133 in Jet Airways, 150 in Go Air and 120 in Air India.
The district administration also managed to bring 200 stranded Ladakhis from Srinagar Airport to Leh in C-17. According to the Deputy Commissioner, more and more people have started reaching Leh to catch flights for Delhi.
He said that after the successful evacuation, nearly 150 more persons including students have reached Leh and all efforts are being made with Government of India to seek special flights for them as well.
At the Leh airport, all the stranded persons praised the Leh administration for its time bound and effective response.
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