Murree's rural population faces suspended power supply, blocked roads.

Byline: Abid Fazil Abbasi

MURREE -- Snow in Murree and the Galiyat brings thousands of tourists and good business for local traders and hoteliers, but for the 90pc of Murree Town's population that lives in rural areas, heavy snowfall brings severe challenges to daily life.

The rural areas in Murree Town extend from Satra Mile in the west to Kohala in the east, and from Barriyan Galiyat in the north to Kotli Sattiyan in the south.

In some of villages, the power supply was suspended for several weeks while others link roads were closed off by snow because the highway department and town administration do not remove snow from link roads.

Hill Dholo Road, Orra Tapa Kair Road, Neergoli Kasairi Link Road, Mussiyaari Road, Pahaphril Road, Hata Noor Khan Road, Dhar Jawa Road, Sandiyaan Road, Massot-Barriyan Road, Aliot-Danna Link Road, Bhurbhan-Rawat Road, and a number of other roads that cater to thousands of commuters were closed for a week because of the snowfall.

Barriyanto Lorra Road, which is used by a population of more than 15,000, was closed because of heavy snowfall in the area. Residents of Seer Sharqi and Gharbi protested in Barriyan Bazaar and stopped machinery belonging to the highway department, demanding that the officials clear their roads first.

Although schools are closed in the winter, students with upcoming board examinations in February have been facing problems as well. Locals have appealed to the authorities in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa governments to set special schedules for these exams in such areas.

Many people had difficulty reaching hospitals and healthcare facilities because of the closed roads. In some cases, this even led to the deaths of people who needed medical care, journalist Ishtiaq Abbasi, a resident of the Malkot village on the border between Murree and the Galiyat, said.

The heavy snow on Aliot-Danna Road in Murree. - Photos by the writer

'The media usually highlights tourists' visits and their problems, but the problems of 90pc of Murree's inhabitants in the rural areas are not covered,' Danna Aliot village resident Nambardar Ansar Abbasi said.

He...