Link roads closure irks residents upcountry

KARACHI: Rain and snowfall in the upper parts of the country have stopped, however, the link roads are still blocked, causing immense difficulties to the commuters, Geo News reported Wednesday.

Life in famous tourists spots of Galyaat, Nathia Gali, Kaghan and Naraan in Hazara Division are among the worst affected areas due to intense snowfall. Shahrae Kaghan is blocked at various points and NHA workers are trying to clear the road.

Many of Gilgit-Baltistan areas including Ghazar, Astore and Diamar received heavy snowfall that continued for many days and has stopped now. But the closure of link roads has caused deficiency of food in affected areas.

Murree-Islamabad Expressway is still blocked after heavy snowfall in Murree and long queues of vehicles were witnessed on the road. The authorities told that the Expressway will be cleared today for traffic.

The cold wave will continue in Chaman, Pishin, Ziarat and other areas of Northern Balochistan after snow and rain. Commuters on Quetta-Zhob Highway faced difficulty due to skidding, affecting the traffic flow on the road.

It may be mentioned that widespread rain and snowfall claimed 33 lives, 25 of them in Khyber Pakhunkhwa, in the country on Tuesday. In addition to the deaths, 40 people were injured across KPK and the tribal areas.

Many homes in various areas of the district were destroyed in the rain, which continued for the third consecutive day.

Around five feet snowfall was recorded in Shangla Top, Yakh Tangi, Ulandar Ajmir and Shahpur valley. Some of the area including Mera, Martung, Dandai and Bisham which had not received snow during the last 15 years also witnessed snowfall.

Karakoram Highway was blocked at Dobair area in Kohistan due to the landsliding and snowfall, causing inconvenience to the commuters.

Tourist places in the valley including Kalam, Malam Jabba, Madyan, Bahrain, Osho, Mataltan and Marghuzar received six feet snowfall lowering the temperature to below zero.

These places were cut off from the rest of the country when all roads were covered with snow. The water level in Swat River increased and the people living on the banks of the river started shifting to other places due to danger of floods.

For the next 24 hours, met department has forecast rain in Upper Khyber Pakhtunkhawa, Upper Punjab, Gilgit-Baltistan and Kashmir, and snowfall in Malakand, Hazara and Gilgit-Baltistan.

Isolated rain is expected in southern parts of Punjab, upper Sindh and northeast Balochistan during the next 24 hours.