Heavy snowfall blankets mountain ranges

Heavy snowfall was recorded on Sunday in all the mountainous districts of K-P from Orakzai, Kurram, Khyber to Chitral, Shangla, Swat, Dir Upper and Hazara.

Chitral city received heavy downpour while snowfall continued on the mountains, further increasing the element of chill in the air. In Dir Upper city received heavy downpour like Chitral while the mountains received several inches of snow.

This forced people to stay mostly indoors while tourists as usual poured into Kalam, Swat, Chitral and Kumrat in Upper Dir to enjoy the snowfall and winter sports.

Heavy rain and snow was recorded in Orakzai, Kurram, Tirah, Khyber, Kalam and Swat, creating problems for the locals as most parts of the province are faced with gas and electricity load shedding.

Due to CNG stations’ closure, public transport has also increased its fare in the distant and difficult to reach mountainous districts. It may be mentioned here that the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Culture and Tourism Authority (CTA) and Winter Sports Federation Pakistan has organized an ice curling sports training camp in Parwak Upper Chitral.

More than 50 athletes are participating in the sports camp. The Director General of Culture and Tourism Authority Muhammad Bakhtiar Khan said in a briefing that the winter sports activity is held in the snowcapped area of Parwak in Upper Chitral.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 9^th, 2023.