Rajouri, Jan 24: Surface connectivity to the border district of Poonch has been partially restored after remaining cut off from the rest of Jammu and Kashmir since Friday morning following heavy snowfall in the region.
Poonch district was completely isolated on Friday early morning after all six roads connecting the district with other parts of the Union Territory were closed due to intense snowfall.
The situation continued on Saturday as well, with the district remaining disconnected till late afternoon hours.
Officials said that teams of the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) managed to partially restore the Jammu–Rajouri–Poonch National Highway by facilitating single-lane movement of vehicles from Bhimber Gali to Jarran Wali Gali via Bhata Dhurian.
This crucial stretch of the national highway had been lying closed since Friday morning.
After carrying out aggressive snow clearance operations, the BRO successfully restored single-lane traffic on the highway, thereby partially re-establishing the much-needed surface connectivity to Poonch.
Later in the evening, partial road connectivity to Mendhar sub-division of the district was also restored.
BRO officials stated that restoration of the highway was a challenging task due to heavy accumulation of snow from Bhimber Gali to Jarran Wali Gali, including stretches at Tota Gali and Bhata Dhurian.
Despite the difficult conditions, men and machinery worked round the clock to reopen the road and reconnect the border district.
Sub Divisional Magistrate (SDM) Mendhar, Imran Rashid Kataria said that hectic efforts were put in to restore the highway as surface connectivity of entire district as well as supply of essentials was dependent on this stretch only.
He said that most of the other roads of Poonch connecting it with outside areas are completely blocked and it may take a couple of days to restore those roads and thus restoration of highway was very emergent in nature.
The SDM also informed that teams of civil administration, police, army with the help of locals camped in Bhimber Gali area last night and facilitated transhipment of stranded passengers while a number of stranded people were accomodated in houses of local families to ensure no loss of life in this bone chilling cold.
However, authorities said that several other roads in Poonch district, particularly in areas of Mandi, Saujiyan, Loran and Surankote, are still lying blocked. Snow clearance work on these routes has been taken up on an aggressive basis, officials added.
