HARIPUR: The heavy snowfall which hit most parts of Hazara division has exposed the functioning of civic agencies and various wings of the civil administration from Haripur to Kohistan.

The snowfall, which started at1:00am in the wee hours of Thursday, kept lashing the ground uninterruptedly till12:30pm.The snow covered the Black Mountain in Torghar, Kohistan Range, Nathiagali Range, Sarban, Margalla-Hattar Range and Gangar and their adjacent hills. The district administration, Abbottabad, issued a warning on Thursday and stopped vehicular traffic for Nathiagali and Barian and Herno points.

The snowfall also hit parts of Haripur, including Baldher, Shah Maqsood, Kamilpur, Sara-i-Saleh, Shadi Hattar and Srikot. It was an unprecedented experience for the people of plain areas. The snow also hit Makhnial, Narotta and Pir Sohawa in the back hilly areas of Islamabad.

In Abbottabad, the administration had closed all the educational institutions, including university campuses. The continuing snowfall had stalled vehicular traffic in Abbottabad and Nathiagali, as almost all roads remained closed till evening.

The municipal services department, which was not prepared to deal with this kind of emergency, could only clear the snow with outdated machinery from some crossings in the city. Also, people had to face 20-hour long power outage besides natural gas loadshedding, increasing their miseries.

In Haripur, the local Pesco officials kept their mobile phones switched off, while landline phones remained unattended.

A large number of people from other parts of the division rushed to Abbottabad to enjoy snowfall. The weather cleared after heavy snowfall and rain in Shangla. The roads have been opened to light traffic, but electricity is yet to be fully restored.

Meanwhile, body of a man buried by avalanche in Khatta Tanawal area of Oghi was retrieved on Friday, our correspondent adds from Mansehra.

Body of Anwar Zeb, a resident of Shergar, who went missing on way to home of his relatives in Oghi on Thursday, was found after hectic efforts by his family. Oghi police said that the family retrieved Zeb’s body out of the heavy snow after his hand was seen.

Published in Dawn, February 14th, 2016