Snow along Mughal Road cleared up to Dobijan

Shopian, Feb 6: As soon as it stopped snowing along the Mughal Road on Sunday evening, the administration stepped up its snow-clearing operation in the area.

Two heavy-duty snow ploughs manned by the officials of the mechanical division of Mughal Road began clearing the road amidst a snowfall, which began late on January 31.

However, the continuous snowfall stymied the snow-clearing operation briefly, but it was expedited with the weather showing signs of improvement on Monday.

By Tuesday morning, the officials were able to clear the road up to Dubijan, some 20 km from Shopian town.

“It is for the first time that the road has been cleared beyond Heerpora,” a senior official from the Shopian district administration said.

Assistant Executive Engineer, Mughal Road Division, Abdul Rehman said that a total of 20 km were cleared.

“We have cleared 8 km beyond Heerpora,” he said.

Another official said that Heerpora received 8 inches of snow while Dubijan received 14 to 18 inches.

“Peer Ki Gali mountain pass experienced more than 2 feet of snow,” the official said.

He said that the road beyond Dobijan was clogged up due to the accumulation of snow.

However, the official said that the spell-casting Heerpora and Dubijan destinations were accessible and continued to attract tourists and snow affectionate.

Jahangir Ahmad, a local said that amidst a good snowfall over the last few days, local tourists continued to throng the area.

“We hope that the tourists from other states also visit the area,” Ahmad said.

Before the fresh spell of snowfall, the tourists, both local and outstation, visited Dobijan and Peer Ki Gali to enjoy the snow.

These areas were among the only few places in Kashmir that received light snow in late December amidst a protracted dry spell.

This year, the Poonch and Rajouri districts of Pir Panjal region remained accessible via Mughal Road throughout January due to dry winter.