Bandipora-Gurez road remains closed after fresh snowfall

Bandipora, Mar 29: The 85-km Bandipora-Gurez road was closed on Friday morning due to fresh snowfall recorded on Razdan Top and other hilly and remote parts of Kashmir.

The administration had opened the road for one-way traffic on Wednesday and Thursday, allowing vehicles to ply from Bandipora to Gurez and vice versa during limited hours.

The Border Roads Organisation (BRO) officials responsible for maintaining the road said that the road was closed on Friday due to slippery conditions caused by incessant overnight rains, which persisted until Friday afternoon.

Amidst the rain, light snowfall was also reported on Razdan Top and in certain areas of the remote Tulail Valley.

Officials said that Razdan Top experienced gusty winds too which deteriorated the conditions for vehicular traffic.

In response to the snowfall and weather conditions, the administration issued an order suspending traffic on the road until weather conditions improve.

However, BRO officials said that the Tulail-Dawar road remained open for traffic despite light snowfall in the region.

Meanwhile, residents of Tulail Valley expressed frustration, alleging that authorities were ignoring their pleas to clear the link roads of snow.

The lack of road clearance caused significant inconvenience to the villagers.

Aijaz Raja of District Development Council (DDC) Tulail said that several villages including Kilshay, Safaid Aaab, Neeru Nallah, Satini Nallah, Wazirithal, Angaikoot, and Abdulain to Chakwali remained inaccessible due to un-cleared snow.

He urged the authorities from the BRO and Mechanical Department to restore connectivity to these villages as soon as possible.