Villages at high altitude, takes time to clear roads, Exen PMGSY Uri
Uri, Feb 11 : Owing to snow-clogged roads, at least five villages in Boniyar Uri, falling along Line of Control, continue to remain cut off from the rest of the Valley for the last six days.
Local residents told GNS over phone that villages including Chotali, Jabdi, Gaggerhill, Korali and Samali falling along Line of Control continue to remain closed as the authorities are ‘yet to clear the roads of accumulated snow.’
A local identifying himself as Abdul Rasheed said that the road leading to their village was closed due to snow-slides at various spots from Madanan Boniyar. He claimed that despite repeated requests to PMGSY officials, no one has come forward to clear the road so far.
He further said that the authorities concerned aren’t paying any attention at all, leading to huge inconvenience to the general populace.
“We had to take a pregnant woman on cot for several kilometres a few days back and it was only after walking the distance that she was boarded in a vehicle and taken to hospital”, he said.
When contacted, Executive Engineer PMGSY Uri Manzoor Ahmad told GNS that the snow clearance work was going on at many upper area roads, including on Chotali road. “The villages fall on high altitudes and witness frequent snow avalanches which is why the clearance takes time”, he said.
“As a precautionary measure, we cannot deploy more than one machine at one time as the road width is very less”, he said adding “We nevertheless are on job to clear the clogged roads as soon as possible”.
