Snow clearance operations completed till Peer Ki Gali
Srinagar, Mar 25: After remaining closed for more than 4 months due to accumulation of snowfall, the historic Mughal Road will be reopened for one way traffic movement from Shopian to Poonch by the end of this year, officials on Monday said.
A senior official at District Administration Shopian told Rising Kashmir that efforts are underway to lift snow from the historic road and it will likely be opened by the end of this Month and so far around 40 kilometres have been cleared.
“Men and machinery are on the job to restore the highway as soon as possible,” he said, adding that the road will be thrown open for the public by the end of this month.
Meanwhile AB Rahman, AEE Mechanical and Hospital Subdivision Division Anantnag told Rising Kashmir that snow clearance operations are underway and it will be cleared till Peer Ki Gali on Tuesday afternoon that is 40 kilometres.
“Expected date for reopening of this road will be decided by the district administration Shopian, while single track will be completed by Tuesday,” he said.
Sheeraz Ahmad Wani a local of Hirapora said that there is less snow present along the highway as compared to past years. The administration should restore the highway as soon as possible as our village remains cut off from the rest of Jammu and Kashmir.
“We request LG Sinha to intervene in this matter, so that our livelihood may not suffer anymore,” he said.
Earlier, students belonging to twin districts of Rajouri-Poonch studying in different educational institutions had demanded the re-opening of Mughal Road for vehicular traffic as snow accumulation work has been completed.
Following heavy snowfall on December 16, the Mughal Road was closed due to accumulation of snow along the various places of highway.
The 90 km long road from Bufliyaz in Poonch to Heerpora in Shopian acts as an alternate to the Srinagar Jammu National Highway. The road gets closed in winter every year due to the accumulation of snow and the government authorities kick start snow clearance work with the onset of the spring season every year.
