Tardy Snow Clearance | Several Kupwara villages out of bounds, without electricity

Kupwara, Feb 4: Several villages in Upper Rajwar area of Kupwara district are still out of bounds due to fresh heavy snowfall thus making the residents suffer badly.

The residents of Sarmarg while talking to Greater Kashmir said that the main road leading to Sarmarg was cleared by PMGSY department upto Sarmarg health centre but the remaining one kilometer was left uncleared, citing reasons that the patch of road was aligned with Roads and Buildings department Handwara Division due to which the R&B department was supposed to clear the road.

"We are isolated in our village as the main entry road along with other link roads including Eidgah Mohalla, Herpora, Bunpora is under 2 feet of snow thus hampering our movement. Even we are without electricity since Saturday and don't know how many days it will take for authorities to restore electricity," Javid Ahmad Bhat, a social activist from Sarmarg told Greater Kashmir.

He said that over hundred households of Check Sarmarg are also isolated as authorities have failed to clear their road thus causing immense hardships for the locals. "The 3 km Check Sarmarg road is under 2 feet of snow and is yet to be cleared. Our road has never remained a priority for authorities in terms of clearing snow off the roads," Bhat added.

The tale of Monidora is not different. The 3.5 km long road from Sarmarg to Monidora is wrapped under a huge blanket of snow. The residents of the village said that over two hundred households were suffering due to blockade of roads. They are also anguished against authorities for failing to carry out widening and macadamisation of their road.

The road leading to Check Zafarkhani has not been cleared yet thus putting the locals to a lot of inconvenience.

The people from Machil told Greater Kashmir over phone, that their area has witnessed almost 6 feet snowfall. They said that the electricity was yet to be restored in the area besides their movement was badly affected due to uncleared inner roads.

The upper reaches of Kupwara including Keran, Machil and Karnah remained closed for the 4th consecutive day. Meanwhile an official said that all the major roads of the district were cleared of snow.

Meanwhile Tehsildar Handwara Zeeshan Khan told Greater Kashmir that the pending one kilometer road from health centre Sarmarg to Sarmarg village was cleared late evening.