RAWALPINDI: Due to the heavy snowfall in Murree, tourists were seen stranded on roads in the hilly area.

Assistant Commissioner Mohammad Omar Maqbool visited various roads and squares of the city, including Jhika Gali Chowk, and reviewed the flow of traffic.

He encouraged traffic wardens on duty, saying despite heavy snowfall they were discharging their duties with responsibly. He said there were too many vehicles in the city which was the reason for traffic congestion.

The administration has made special arrangements to deal with the situation, he said, adding heavy machinery has been deployed to remove snow from roads.

Meanwhile, scores of people rushed towards hospitals in the garrison city on Thursday amid the cold weather and continuous rainfall for the last three days.

A senior doctor at Holy family Hospital told Dawn that most of the patients complained about cold and cough. He advised people to take special care of the elderly and children as cases of pneumonia were on the rise.

People should not come out of their homes unnecessarily and drink plenty of fluids, he added.

On Thursday, 9mm of rain was recorded at Saidpur, 5mm at Zero Point, 4mm each at Golra, Bokra and Airport, 9mm at Chaklala and 6mm at Shamsabad in Rawalpindi.

According to Met Office, another strong westerly wave was likely to affect the upper half of the country from Friday.

It said widespread rain was expected in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Islamabad, Punjab, Gilgit-Baltistan and Kashmir and more rain and snow over the hills in upper/central Balochistan and upper Sindh. Heavy rain and a hailstorm was expected at isolated places in Islamabad, upper Punjab, upper Khyber Pakthunkhwa and Kashmir during the period.

Murree received 8.5 inches of snow, Skardu 9.7 inches, Kalam 5.5 inches, Malam Jabba 5 inches, Dir 4 inches, Chitral and Bagrote 0.4 inches.

The lowest minimum temperatures recorded were: Kalam -9°C, Leh -8°C, Gupis -7°C, Ziarat -6°C, Bagrote, Hunza, Skardu -4°C, Kalat, Malamjabba -3°C, Astore, Dir, Drosh, Parachinar, Rawalakot -2°C and Murree and Mirkhani (Chitral) -1°C.

Published in Dawn, January 7th, 2022