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Snowfall
still blocks Kashmir, Manali roads
by Bilal Butt
Srinagar: The Jammu-Srinagar Highway, including the Jawahar Tunnel in Qazigund area, continued to remain closed to traffic for the third consecutive day following heavy snowfall. There were long queues of vehicles, especially trucks stranded on the route, dampening spirits of both drivers and their assistants who complained of a lack of drinking water and food. "Roads are broken and on the top of it, it is raining. Nobody is bothered about us. There is a huge scarcity of water- there are no taps for drinking water. Nobody enquires about our problems. Last year, we had got some ration, sugar and kerosene oil. But this year, there are no such provisions," Fayaz Ahmed, a driver said. Authorities, however, said that they were doing their best to clear the roads. "Due to shooting stones and landslides in Pantihal, the traffic has been stopped here. But as soon as the roads are cleared, the traffic would be restored," said Rouf-ul-Hassan, Senior Superintendent of Police (Traffic).
Meanwhile,
in Himachal Pradesh, people complained that the authorities were not doing
enough to clear the snow-blocked roads. Hundreds of vehicles were stranded
at the tourist hotspot Manali. "Whatever arrangements are done by the
Government is almost negligible. There are various traffic jams and stranded
vehicles. Snow falls every year but this time, the authorities are absolutely
unprepared," said Sumit Chauhan, a resident. The 300-km-long highway,
connecting the valley to the rest of the country, passes through some
of the most tricky terrain in the Pir Panjal mountain range of Kashmir.
The road gets blocked every time there is snowfall in the winters or landslides
due to heavy rains. Also, tourism, the mainstay of the State, has been
hit badly by snapping of road links.
-Jan
17, 2006
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