Srinagar: Roads to dozens of far-flung and remote villages, including those near the Line of Control (LoC), reopened on Thursday after remaining closed for two days due to slippery road conditions following fresh snowfall but the border town of Gurez is still disconnected.
“Dozens of far-flung and remote villages, including Machil, Kernah and Tanghdar, were reconnected with district headquarter in Kupwara on Thursday after clearance of snow and improvement in weather conditions,” an official of Police Control Room (PCR), Kupwara, said.
He said Sadhna top, Z gali and other tops received about a foot of fresh snowfall earlier this week, resulting in closure of roads to these border areas. However, he said Border Road Organization (BRO), responsible for the maintenance of the border roads, pressed into service sophisticated machines and cleared the snow.
He said traffic has been restored on Kupwara-Keran road though the vehicles are currently plying only till Munden, which is a few km from the main town.
Official sources said that Gurez remained cut off from its tehsil and district headquarter in Bandipora from last over three months.
“The snow clearance operation was almost complete and the repair work was to be started on Bandipora-Gurez road,” they added.
The Bandipora-Gurez road was to be reopened for traffic in the first week of April. But, the reopening date was delayed due to fresh heavy snowfall last month.
People of Gurez and adjoining border villages have been demanding a tunnel near the Razdan pass so that the border area remains connected with the rest of the valley throughout the year.
