ISLAMABAD, Nov 29: Chitral has been cut off from other parts of the country as the Lowari top road has been closed to traffic after a heavy snowfall.

Due to road closure, movement of all traffic had been stopped between Lowari and Peshawar for the last 20 hours, said District Nazim Chitral, Shahzada Mahiuddin, while talking to a private TV on Monday.

He said the NWFP chief minister could not reach Chitral on his scheduled visit on Monday. "He will hopefully visit within two days if the road is cleared".

The District Nazim said bulldozers of the National Highway Authority (NHA) would start clearing work to open the road if the snowfall stops. "It is impossible to open the road immediately, which will take a few days", he said.

He said the Afghan government had already permitted travelling by road through Kandhar province from Dec 21 till March 21. "As Lowari road has been closed before time, we are trying to contact Afghan government through Foreign Office, to seek permission for opening Kandhar road before time," he added.

The District Nazim hoped that the Afghan government would open the way within two or three days, which will help overcome the inconvenience of travellers. -APP