Heavy snowfall: Traffic between KP, GB via Kaghan valley suspended

MANSEHRA: The police on Saturday suspended the traffic between Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Gilgit-Baltistan and warped up its check posts in the Kaghan valley after the first heavy snowfall of the season in the valley.

“We have closed our posts at four points and restricted the entry of vehicles beyond Naran Bazaar after the valley received heavy snowfall,” Deputy Superintendent of Police, Balakot, Siraj Khan told reporters.

He said that the Mansehra-Naran-Jalkhad Road was closed owing to heavy snowfall and ensuring the safety of the passengers and motorists travelling between KP and GB. “The police posts established in Ghatidas, Barawai, Basal and Battakundi have been closed till next summer,” Khan said.

The families living in the upper parts of Kaghan valley have also started migrating to their summer destinations following the start of snowfall. The people of Batakundi, Bassal, Barawai, and Naran have started migrating to the lower parts of the district to spend the harsh winter as the valley beyond Kaghan town would remain buried under the snow and normal life would come to a halt till April next year. “Though most of the families had already migrated to their summer destinations in Garhi Habibullah, Balakot and the rest of Hazara division, those still waiting for the crops have now started leaving their summer abodes after the area received heavy snowfall,” said Assad Shahzad, the assistant director of Kaghan Development Authority. The snowfall in mountainous parts of the district and continued rains, which started on Friday night, have turned the weather chilly.

The mountainous parts of Upper Kohistan, Lower Kohistan, Kolai-Palas and Torghar districts also received the first snowfall of the current winter season.