MURREE: Heavy snowfall in Murree and the Galiyat from Friday night until Sunday morning brought a large number of tourists to the area, leading to traffic congestion and queues of vehicles that were kilometres long.

Murree received around 2 feet of snow, while the Galiyat received 3ft. After several years, it even snowed in parts of Murree Town that are at lower altitudes such Aliot, Barra Hoter, Nambal, Gohrra and Ausia.

Many parts of Murree, not including those that were supplied gas under the last government, also suffered from lack of gas supply.

Tourists in town to enjoy the snowfall were stuck in traffic for hours, while the highway department struggled to clear the roads of snow. Vehicles were stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic from Jika Gali to the Mall, and similar traffic jams were also seen on Mal-Kuldana Road, which is used as an exit.

Link roads were blocked by the heavy snowfall, forcing residents to either stay at home or travel to main roads on foot.

According to City Traffic Police spokesperson Muzamal Abbasi, around 90,000 vehicles entered Murree in the last two days.

Cars that stopped because of slippery roads or due to bad driving led to dozens more vehicles to stop, causing jams that hindered road-clearing and Rescue 1122 vehicles. The snow also made it difficult to park on the side of the roads; Murree does not have adequate parking facilities, with enough space for around 4,000 vehicles on roadsides. Hotels were also packed by tourists, while more vehicles queued to enter the resort town.

Murree’s administration had arranged a snow gala at the Nighat Zaar Park on Mall Road for the tourists, which was addressed by MPA Latasab Satti, Murree Station Commander Sohail Dar, Tourism Manager Jafar Kohistani and the Murree assistant commissioner, among others.

They said Murree was a peaceful tourist station that welcomed visitors, and one or two ugly incidents could not destroy the city’s tourist attraction. A musical night was also arranged.

Published in Dawn, January 7th, 2019