MURREE, Jan 4: The first snowfall of the season came to Murree and the adjoining Galiyat areas at the weekend, covering the region with at least 12 inches of clean snow.

The snowfall, which was continuing intermittently, drew crowds from the nearby cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad.

At a time when hundreds of visitors enjoyed the cold and snowy weather, the locals faced many problems due to loadshedding and insufficient heating arrangements.

Though gas connections have been provided in Murree town, 85 per cent of the local population still lacks the facility as the majority is settled in the rural areas.

Many link roads between rural areas and Murree town also remained blocked due to heavy snowfall, and the authorities could only clear the roads around central Murree and the main highway.

Meanwhile, the motorists also faced problems as several roads patches, which were built a few months ago at a heavy cost, had been dug up for reconstruction due to earlier use of substandard material.