KHAR: A cold wave gripped Bajaur Agency as the region’s mountains received heavy snow while it rained in valleys on Tuesday.

The fresh spell of heavy snowfall with light rain started on Monday night and continued till Tuesday morning which turned the weather chilly again across the tribal agency.

This is the first time since 2013 that all parts of the agency received snowfall, causing people to wear warm clothes to protect themselves from the biting cold.

The fresh snowfall also caused a lot of inconvenience to the local people as they faced shortages of firewood and absence of public transport. People of hilly areas in Mamond, Salarzai, Nawagai, Chamarkand and Barang were the worst-affected.

The residents said that snowfall also caused road blockades in Barang, Mamond and Salarzai tehsils, besides cutting off power supply to most parts. The people also complained about shortage of LPG.

Meanwhile, the people of urban areas complained about increase in LPG price. They said that LPG was being sold from Rs175 to Rs185 per kg despite the local administration had fixed its price at Rs170 per kg.

On the other hand, an official of the local administration told Dawn that soon action would be launched against the LPG dealers who indulged in overcharging.

In Shangla, after a few days interval the snowfall again started in the district on Tuesday turning the weather chilly as mercury plunged below zero degree Celsius.

Two feet snowfall was recorded in Yakh Tangi, two in Ajmir Top, one foot in Shangla Top, five inch in Alpuri, while plains received heavy rain. The link roads remained closed.

Published in Dawn January 28th, 2015

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