Roads to several far-flung and remote villages, including border town of Machil, reopened on Tuesday after remaining closed for eight days due to slippery road conditions and accumulation of snow.
However, the border town of Gurez, which is surrounded by Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (POK) from three sides, and its adjoining areas, remained cutoff from rest of the valley since January 1.Meanwhile, one-way traffic was plying normally on Kupwara-Karnah and Kupwara-Keran roads, which was reopened on Sunday and Monday respectively, after remaining closed since last week due to heavy snowfall.
“Traffic has been restored to the border town of Machil and its adjoining areas after clearance of several feet of snow,” an official of Police Control Room (PCR), Kupwara, told UNI.
He said vehicles were plying on Kupwara-Keran road only till Munden, which is few kms from the main town. “The snow clearance operation to restore traffic till Keran town was going on war footing,” he added.
“One-way traffic on Kupwara-Karnah road was also plying normally. The border town was reconnected with district headquarters on Sunday after clearance of snow from the road, including Sadhna top, which was under 5 feet of snow,” he said.An official of Police Control Room (PCR) from Bandipora told UNI that Bandipora-Gurez road remained closed for traffic since January 1. “Razdan pass, connecting Gurez, Neeru and dozens of other areas near LoC with district headquarters Bandipora, received over 2.5 feet of fresh snowfall last week,” he said.
He said the traffic to the border town has been suspended till further orders.
Official sources said that dozens of villages in Tulail tehsil continue to remain cut off from Gurez town due to snowfall. “About 50 small and big villages remained cutoff from Dawar in Gurez due to three to four feet of snow from last over a week,” they added.