Bandipora: The season’s first snowfall draped pristine Gurez Valley in north Kashmir’s Bandipora district in white blanket on Thursday. It also resulted in the closure of the Bandipora-Gurez road.
As per the locals, the snowfall occurred in entire Valley including Dawar, the centrally located Tehsil in Gurez, and far off Tulail and Bagtore as well. Aijaz Ahamd, a local, said that three to four inches of snow was recorded in the plain area while more snow was in the upper reaches.
The Razdan Pass received around one-foot deep snow closing the Bandipora-Gurez road for traffic. “Bandipora-Gurez road is closed,” a BRO official told Greater Kashmir. The official said that men and machinery will be involved to clear it for traffic when the weather improves.
The sub-divisional office in Gurez has also circulated an advisory among the hoteliers to confirm tourist bookings only after informing them about the weather forecast to avoid any inconvenience.
Meanwhile, several upper reaches in Bandipora district like Arin, Sumlar, Ketson, Sirinder, Doban, and Kudhara which received snowfall made tribal inhabitants anxious as they termed it disastrous for the harvesting.
“The snowfall has the potential to ruin crops like wheat, corn, and apple in these areas,” a tribal, Mohammad Abdullah Poswall told the Greater Kashmir.
He said that this is a “’harvesting season for them and that wheat, grass for fodder, apple, and other crops were being harvested or sun-dried and has been affected by untimely snow.”
He requested the administration to provide “special attention” to these areas in terms of development projects so that construction works are taken up early to avoid delay or lapse given tough weather conditions during winter.
“We have been requesting the administration now and then to pay attention towards upper areas regarding development works, but to our disappointment, these works are taken up usually in September end and with deteriorating weather, they are delayed for long,” Poswall said.