Anantnag: The snowfall, which began late on Friday evening continued to carpet the south Kashmir districts today leading to the closure of roads and heavy disruptions in utility services while forcing people to remain cooped up inside their homes.
The upper reaches of the region received snowfall as high as 2 to 3 feet and low lying areas around 5 inches.
In Anantnag district snow clearance machines were pressed into service on all the main roads immediately such as Srinagar – Anantnag highway; Khanabal Pahalgam ( KP) road, Anantnag – Shangus, Anantnag- Kokernag, Anantnag Dooru, Bijbehara- Pahalgam road.
“ The slippery road conditions, however, disrupted routine traffic even on these roads, “ locals said They said the roads connecting several far villages to towns continue to be cut off due to heavy snowfall.. “ We have to face a lot of hardships to ferry the patients to hospitals, “said Syed Ishfaq of Kapran village of Verinag where it snowed more than 2.5 feet. Similar reports poured in from other villages of the district and neighbouring Kulgam.
“Around 2.6 feet of snow has piled up in our area and the roads have not been cleared at all, “said Mushtaq Ahmad of Dandward village of DH Pora in Kulgam. People in villages were seen clearing the snow on the rooftops of their houses. “There is every possibility of houses now collapsing so we have to do it regularly, “said Khurshid Ahmad of remote Ahlan village of Kokernag. The heavy snowfall also affected electric supply in remote areas.
In the Pulwama district, the upper reaches recorded a spell of heavy snowfall while plains received light to moderate snowfall.
The interior roads of the district were covered by a thick blanket of snow due to which roads remained blocked. “Snow-clearance machines are being pressed into service regularly to clear the main roads on a priority basis,” an official said. He said even interior roads have been cleared. Many residents complained that snow had not been cleared from many. Most of the locals in south Kashmir preferred to stay indoors amid snowfall.