MUZAFFARABAD, Jan 2: Relief operations in the earthquake region came to a grinding halt with snow blanketing mountainous areas and heavy rain continued to lash the region for the second consecutive day on Monday, compounding the miseries of survivors living in flimsy tents and shelters.

Authorities said although there had been no rain-related casualty, landslides had cut off some areas from the federal capital and there had been frequent tent collapses. “So far there has been no report of any rain related casualty from anywhere,” military spokesman Maj Farooq Nasir told Dawn.

He said poor visibility had grounded helicopters and the UN, foreign militaries and the Pakistan Army could not resume relief operations until the weather turned better.

Maj Farooq said there were enough rations stored at distribution points to last a week if supplies did not get through.

“The aid agencies are distributing plastic sheets, blankets, oil and gas heaters,” he said, adding the army had helped build more than 20,000 shelters by providing corrugated metal sheets and material recovered from the rubble.

So far, the UN and other relief agencies had helped build 48,000 shelters, he added.

He said some roads had been closed because of landslides but the army engineers were “ceaselessly working” to keep them open.

“The Neelum valley road is closed due to the landslides and we are not allowing traffic on it to avoid loss of life,” the major said.

However, he said, the army engineers had cleared the Kohala-Muzaffarabad road for normal traffic.

But due to heavy snowfall in Murree, road access to Islamabad via Kohala was blocked, leaving motorists with no other option but the Abbottabad route.

He said Jhelum Valley road, which remained closed on Monday because of landslides at three points, had been cleared up to the town of Garhi Dopatta by the evening.

Jhelum Valley residents also experienced a disruption in the telecommunication link.

“Four telecom exchanges in our valley are out of order for more than two weks but officials do not appear to be too concerned about the situation,” lamented Naeem Kiani, a resident of Chinari, who was stuck in Muzaffarabad because to the landslides. Local meteorological office said Muzaffarabad received 51mm of rainfall in the past 24 hours.

Mountains around the AJK capital were covered by 1.5 to 2 feet of snow while snowfall was more heavy in higher elevation areas, he said.

The weather department has forecast more, with strong, chilly winds and freezing temperatures for the next two days.