Traffic on Sadhna pass resumes; Razdan, Z-Gali & Phirkiyan remain closed due to snow

Srinagar: Traffic was on Sunday resumed to areas, including border town of Karnah, connected by Sadhna pass in north Kashmir while dozens of far flung and remote villages, including those near the Line of Control (LoC), remained cut off from their district and tehsil headquarters in Kupwara and Bandipora following closure of Razdan pass, Phirkyan and Z-Gali due to snowfall.
“After clearing snow from Sadhna pass, the road leading to border town of Karnah and other areas near LoC has been thrown open for traffic after remaining closed for two days since Friday,” an official of Police Control Room (PCR) from Kupwara told UNI over the phone.
However, Phirkiyan and Z-Gali remained closed for the third successive day on Sunday for traffic due to accumulation of snow and slippery road conditions, he said.
He said due to closure of these passes border towns of Keran, Machil, Tangdhar and dozens of other areas were cut off from Kupwara.
He said traffic on these passes will be resumed only after the snow is cleared and roads become safe for undertaking journey.
Eleven persons, including an officer of BEACON, were killed in a snow avalanche at Sadhna pass in the first week of January.
Meanwhile, there was over three feet of fresh snow at Razdan pass, connecting Bandipora with border town of Gurez which is surrounded by Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (POK), an official of Police Control Room (PCR) from Bandipora told UNI over phone.
He said traffic was suspended on road on Friday due to snow and slippery road condition. The Border Roads Organisation (BRO), responsible for the maintainance of the road has already pressed into service sophisticated machine and men to clear the snow, he said.
The road was reopened early this month after remaining closed during winter due to heavy snowfall. Due to closure of the road dozens of villages, including those near LoC, including Neeru, remained cut off with their district and tehsil headquarters.