$A$ hot air balloon is carrying some passengers and a few sandbags of mass $1 kg$ each,so that its total mass is $480 kg$. Its effective volume providing buoyancy is $V$. The balloon is floating at an equilibrium height of $100 m$. When $N$ number of sandbags are thrown out,the balloon rises to a new equilibrium height of $150 m$ with its volume $V$ remaining unchanged. If the variation of the density of air with height $h$ from the ground is $\rho(h) = \rho_0 e^{-\frac{h}{h_0}}$,where $\rho_0 = 1.25 kg m^{-3}$ and $h_0 = 6000 m$,the value of $N$ is:

• A
  $3$
• B
  $4$
• C
  $5$
• D
  $6$