Rajouri: Prolonged bad weather conditions, rainfall, and moderate snowfall in May is delaying the opening of Mughal Road which otherwise used to get operational for traffic in March-April.
Deputy Commissioner Poonch, Yasin M Choudhary paid a visit to Mughal Road on Thursday.
He said that the road could not be opened for the movement of vehicles till weather conditions improve and slide debris is cleared at Dugriyan.
The 90-km Mughal Road connects Surankote sub division of Poonch district with Heerpora in Shopian district.
It acts as an alternate to Srinagar-Jammu National Highway but remains closed for five to six months during winter.
The Centre recently announced the construction of tunnels on the Mughal Road to make it an all-weather road.
The road has been lying closed for the past six and a half months after it got closed in the last week of November while snow clearance work was started in the second week of March with the Mechanical Engineering Department of the J&K government deploying its men and machinery.
The road was cleared of snow between Bufliyaz and Pir Ki Gali in the first week of April but fresh snowfall started thereafter and snowfall at regular intervals in the last month caused the prolonged delay in the road opening.
The DC Poonch accompanied by Sub Divisional Magistrate (SDM) Surankote, Rizwan Zargar and other officials of the administration also visited the Mughal Road upto Pir Ki Gali and examined the status of snow clearance.
The DC Poonch said that the prolonged bad weather conditions and a heavy slide at Dugriyaan were the reason behind the delay in road opening.
He also appealed to the people not to venture on the Mughal Road till the administration officially notifies and permits the movement of vehicles.
Choudhary said that road was cleared for single lane road in the month of April and there was single lane connectivity upto Pir Ki Gali on the Poonch side but thereafter fresh snowfall started which was going on at regular intervals.
Assistant Engineer, Mechanical Engineering Department (MED), Tariq Mahmood told Greater Kashmir that the snow clearance work on the road got affected due to severely bad weather conditions during the last couple of days.
He said that the work resumed on Thursday.
“We have resumed work and it is going on at full pace but shooting stones, fresh snowfall, bad weather conditions, and slides are making things difficult,” he said.