Jammu: The Indian Air Force (IAF) has rescued civilians stranded in the recent snow and cold waves in the Jammu region by air lifting 488 passengers from Udhampur to Leh, a public relations officer (Defence) said.

Due to the recent snow and cold waves in the entire northern areas of Jammu and Kashmir, a lot of civilians of the Leh and Kargil sector were stranded in Jammu and Udhampur, he said.

The IAF operated its special aircraft IL-76, popularly known as Gajraj, to airlift the civilians on requisition by the Jammu and Kashmir government, the PRO said.

"The Indian Air Force once again came to the rescue of the stranded civilians of Jammu and Kashmir state by air lifting 239 passengers on March 6, 2018 and 249 passengers on March 7, 2018 from Udhampur to Leh," he said.

Air Force Station, Udhampur was the staging base for this rescue activity.

"Special arrangements were made by Air Force Station Udhampur and District Administration Udhampur for Security and Marshalling of civilians, which included women and children as well, into the technical area of the Air Force," the PRO added.

With this, a total of 955 stranded passengers have been airlifted by the IAF to Leh from Udhampur-based IAF station this year.

On February 27, as many as 234 stranded passengers were airlifted by the Indian Air Force (IAF) from Udhampur district to Leh in the Ladakh region. On February 19, about 233 Leh-Kargil-bound passengers were airlifted from Udhampur to Leh, after they were stranded due to turbulent weather in the region.