Srinagar, Jan 11: Roads to several far-flung and remote villages, including the border town of Keran, reopened on Monday after remaining closed for seven days due to slippery road conditions and accumulation of snow.
However, two main roads – Kupwara-Machil and Bandipora-Gurez – were closed since earlier last week following which dozens of villages, including near the Line of Control (LoC), remained cut off with their respective tehsil and district headquarters.
Meanwhile, one-way traffic was plying normally on Kupwara-Karnah road, which was reopened on Sunday after remaining closed for six days due to heavy snowfall.
“Traffic has been restored on Kupwara-Keran road though the vehicles are currently plying only till Munden, which is few kms from the main town,” an official of Police Control Room (PCR), Kupwara, told UNI.
He said the snow clearance operation to restore traffic till Keran town was going on war footing. “One-way traffic on Kupwara-Karnah road was also plying normally. The border town was reconnected with district headquarters on Sunday after clearance of snow from the road, including Sadhna top, which was under 5 feet of snow,” he said.
He said traffic remained suspended to dozens of far-flung and remote villages, including Machil, due to accumulation of several feet of snow. “Snow clearance operation was going on war footing to restores traffic to these areas. Traffic will be resumed to these areas only after clearance of the road and getting a green signal from officials deployed on the ground,” he added.
An official of Police Control Room (PCR) from Bandipora told UNI that Gurez remained closed for traffic since January 1. “Razdan pass, connecting Gurez, Neeru and dozens of other areas near LoC with district headquarters Bandipora, received over 2.5 feet of fresh snowfall last week,” he said.
Official sources said that dozens of villages in Tulail tehsil continue to remain cut off from Gurez town due to snowfall. “About 50 small and big villages remained cutoff from Dawar in Gurez due to three to four feet of snow from last over a week,” they added.
