Poor snow clearance measures in Uri leave residents riled

Uri, Dec 29: Two days after snowfall blanketed parts of Kashmir, residents in the Uri area of north Kashmir’s Baramulla district have complained about incomplete snow clearance on the roads in several villages.

A delegation of locals told Greater Kashmir that the snow clearance in Uri and Boniyar has not been carried out properly by the concerned authorities.

“While the authorities did clear the roads, the work has not been done thoroughly. Snow is still visible on many roads, which is making it difficult to make roads fully motorable. They are still slippery,” said Mohammad Ashraf, a resident of Maidanan village in Boniyar tehsil.

Talib Hussain, a local from Hathlanga village along the Line of Control (LoC) in Uri, said that although the PMGSY department reopened the road this afternoon, snow clearance was inadequate. “In fact, the JCB machines used for clearing the snow have damaged our village road at several points,” he said.

“The snow clearance work on the Kallar road has also been left incomplete. The JCB machine turned back after reaching the Chack Mohallah,” added a local from Garkote village.

It is important to note that several roads remain closed for the second consecutive day in the Uri sub-division.

These roads include Thala-Lagama, Dana-Mothal, Mike-Charunda, Dudran-Darkunjan, Garkote’s Kallar-Chack Mohallah, Chotali, Barnate, Gagarhill and Pakhlan.

Locals have alleged that the concerned departments are facing a shortage of manpower and machinery, which has led to delays in road clearance due to the snowfall.

“The way the clearance work has been done suggests a rush. They seem to be using just one or two JCB machines to clear many roads at once. How is this even possible?” locals questioned.

When contacted, Fayaz Ahmad Kumar, Executive Engineer R&B sub-division Uri, stated that out of 19 blocked roads, 15 have already been cleared of snow. “The remaining four will be cleared by tomorrow,” he told Greater Kashmir.

He added that there is no shortage of machinery for the clearance work. “We have 5-6 machines available for the task,” he said.

A senior official from the PMGSY department in Uri also assured that 95% of their roads have been cleared. “The remaining roads will also be cleared soon. We are working to ensure smooth traffic movement,” he added.