Srinagar: Roads to several far-flung and remote villages, including the border town of Keran, reopened on Sunday after remaining closed for three days due to slippery road conditions and accumulation of snow.
However, two main roads — Kupwara-Machil and Kupwara-Karnah — were closed since earlier Thursday following which dozens of villages, including near the Line of Control (LoC), remained cut off with tehsil and district headquarter Kupwara. Traffic to the border town of Gurez also remained suspended since January 1 due to accumulation of about three to four feet of snow at Razdan pass and adjoining areas.
“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 said on Sunday.
He said traffic was restored on the road after clearing about 2.6 feet of snow from Phirkiyan pass and adjoining areas. “The snow clearance operation to restore traffic till Keran town was going on war footing,” he said.
People living in dozens of far-flung and remote villages, including Machil and Karnah, continued to suffer as the roads to these areas remained cutoff for the fourth successive day on Sunday due accumulation of snow.
“Sadhna top received about 2.6 feet of fresh snowfall earlier this week while Z gali recorded 1.9 feet of snow,” he said, adding traffic to these areas will be restored only after clearing snow from the roads and getting a green signal from the officials deployed on the ground.
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 fresh snowfall earlier this week hampering the snow clearance operation,” he said.
He said Razdan pass received about 1.5 feet of fresh snowfall while other places, including Dawar and Tulail Valley, recorded 9 inches to a foot of fresh snow.
