Srinagar: Days after a heavy snowfall, over half a dozen villages of sub-division Uri in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district remain cut off from the rest of the Valley due to a delay in clearance of snow from the roads.
Most of the areas fall in the higher reaches and along the Line of Control (LoC) of Uri and Boniyar sectors.
The affected villages include Silpathar Nambla, Hathlanga, Charunda, Darakunjan, Dudran and Chotali.
A delegation of locals told Greater Kashmir that Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) department has not taken concrete measures of clearing the snow from the roads and with the result there has been no traffic movement.
“Though the PMGSY department took up the clearance work, but they have failed to clear the roads completely. They have left the clearance work half way. We are unable to ply the vehicles on roads,” they said.
Noor Alam Mangral, Naib-Sarpanch of Nambla C village said, “Though a JCB machine came to our area for the snow clearance but it couldn’t clear the stretch completely because of a landslide that hit the road.”
“A few roads in the Boniyar area are still closed. Maidanan road has not been cleared properly by the PMGSY department. Snow is still visible on roads hampering the traffic movement,” said Mohd Ashraf Chauhan, Numberdar of Maidnan village.
Locals of Nawarunda said that roads in their area have not been cleared properly.
Villagers of snow bound areas in Uri said that patients are being ferried on stretchers to the hospital. Khursheed Ahmad Mir, AEE PMGSY Uri, said that their men and machinery are on the job. “We have cleared most of the roads while the clearance work is also going on over the remaining villages. We expect all the roads to be cleared by tonight,” the AEE said.