January 12, 2008	Saturday	Muharram 02,1429

ABBOTTABAD, Jan 11: Traffic between Abbottabad and Murree remained suspended on Friday due to three-to-four feet snow accumulated on roads and might cause a severe food shortage in the affected areas.

Link roads in Galyat were also blocked and people were travelling on foot to far away places to get food and other supplies.

Residents of Galyat complained that the concerned department had awarded the contract to remove snow from roads to a person who did not even possess the required machinery. They said the only machine that had been working from time to time for brief durations had broken down. They feared that the continued closure of roads might create a food shortage.

Removing snow from roads is the responsibility of the Galyat Development Authority, which works under the control of the provincial government. Earlier, the task had been managed and supervised by the local district nazim as head of the department.

Residents said that apart from snow, roads had been blocked by landsliding in different areas. They said the link roads of Namal, Bakot, Birot, Patan Khurd and Thandiyani were also blocked.