Srinagar, Dec 8: Dozens of far flung and remote villages, including those near the Line of Control (LoC), were cut off due to fresh snowfall since early Tuesday morning forcing closure of the Razdan pass on Bandipora-Gurez road, official sources said.
After intermittent rain during the night, snowfall started this morning in the entire border belt in Gurez, which is surrounded by Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK) from three sides. It was still snowing, sources told UNI.
They said over two feet of snow had accumulated at Razdan pass since this morning and it was still snowing. About six to eight inches of snow had also accumulated in Gurez forcing administration to suspend traffic to dozens of far flung and remote villages, including Dawar and Neeru.
The snow clearance operation has been started on some roads, they said, adding continued snowfall was hampering the operation.
There is also a threat of avalanches, particularly in Razdan pass area, sources said, adding there is also warning for medium danger avalanche in Bandipora.
This is the fourth time the Bandipora-Gurez road was closed during the past one month due to snowfall.
The road remained closed during winter months due to accumulation of heavy snowfall besides avalanches.
Meanwhile, large number of people are stranded in Bandipora and Gurez and other border areas. The authorities are operating helicopter service between Bandipora and Gurez during winter.