Shopian: The authorities in south Kashmir’s Shopian district are yet to restore the utility services disrupted due to fairly heavy snowfall in the area.
The snowfall, which began late Thursday clogged all the roads, lanes, and by-lanes in the district and disrupted electric and water supply.
Large mounds of snow falling from the roofs of the commercial complexes, shops, and residential houses are hindering the snow-clearing process.
Assistant Executive Engineer, Mechanical Engineering Department Mir Irfan told Greater Kashmir that of the 148 Priority First (P1) roads, the snow from 140 roads had been cleared.
He said that the snow-clearing operation on the rest of the eight roads was going on in full swing.
“Similarly, we have cleared the majority of the Priority Second (P2) roads,” said Irfan. “The snow falling from the rooftops of roadside buildings makes the snow-clearing operations much difficult.” He said that to clear large mounds of snow falling from rooftops was beyond the carrying capacity of the machines.
Given the slippery condition of roads, the municipal authorities in the town began treating the streets with salt.
Executive Officer, Municipal Council Shopian (MCS) Suhail Malik said, “We have started the de-icing process of streets by sprinkling salt.”
He said that the MCS also cleared multiple lanes and by-lanes manually.
“On the first day of snowfall, we successfully responded to at least 15 distress calls from multiple locations in the town,” Malik said.
An official from the Power Development Department said that the electricity in the entire district was restored late Sunday night.
An official from the Jal Shakti Department said that currently only two water supply schemes in the district were disrupted and those would be restored soon.