Watch: Snow blankets parts of K-P

Mountains of Galyat covered in four to five inches of snow

PESHAWAR:

Heavy snowfall on Monday pummeled the upcountry areas, particularly the tourist resorts of Galyat, Thandiani, Shogran, Kaghan and Naran as well as mountaintops in the region, plunging the temperatures below freezing point and making road travel difficult.

Up to two feet snow has been reported in the upper hilly areas, while there is up to one feet snow in Galyat.

From Bara Gali onward, the road from Abbottabad to Muree has been closed for all sorts of traffic while on the other side, the road from Barain to Nathia Gali has been completely blocked by snow.

According to the Galiyat Development Authority (GDA) spokesperson Ahsan Hameed, snow plowing machine is on standby, waiting for the snow to stop falling.



The snowfall followed by rain started early in the morning and continued, with frequent intervals, till the filing of this news story.

GDA Director General Raza Ali Habib presided over a meeting at the GDA office to review the road clearance arrangements.

The DG directed all field staff to be present while clearing the road in Galiyat.

“A contractor has been hired who will use two dozers to remove the snow from the roads where special salt will be used in order to avoid vehicles from skidding,” said Habib.

According to a public safety message issued by the GDA, tourists are advised to keep in touch with the GDA officials for latest position of the roads.

Tourists have also been advised to bring along tyre chain, tow chain or rope in case their vehicle gets stuck. Vehicles running on CNG have been advised not to come to Galiyat.

The number of tourists coming to Galiyat to enjoy the weather is quite low. Power supply has been suspended in different areas of Galiyat since morning.  PESCO staff is reportedly busy in restoring the power supply.

Only a few hotels are open while bazaars have been closed.

In Abbottabad, traffic remained blocked for hours in the cantonment area due to heavy rain. Gutters were overflowing causing severe traffic jams due to the sanitation staff’s carelessness in cleaning the garbage.

A large number of traffic wardens were seen trying to control the traffic on the one and only major road, Karakoram Highway, which links northern areas’ six districts to other parts of the country.

As if traffic jams and inundated road were not enough, low gas pressure in densely-populated areas like Kunj, Kehal, Malikpura and Karimpura compounded the problems of the people.

Snowfall early Monday morning covered Malka-e-Kohsar in Muree with domestic tourists - mainly from the twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad - visiting the hills to enjoy the view of snow-covered hilltops.

Most cities of the country witnessed heavy rainfall.

According to the Pakistan Meteorological Department report, Rawalpindi received 14 millimetres of rain, Chakwal 11mm, Layyah 08mm, Jhang 06mm, Sialkot 03mm, Gujranwala 02mm, Peshawar 18mm, DI Khan 03mm, Dera Ghazi Khan 04mm, Saidu Sharif 21mm and Risalpur 14mm.