Machines break down in Shopian, 4 brought from Srinagar

Machines break down in Shopian, 4 brought from Srinagar

Snow sliding down tin roofs frustrating efforts, most link roads still buried under snow

Shopian: A day after the district chief claimed to have sufficient number of “sophisticated” snow clearance machines, half of the machines in the district broke down in the process of clearing the heavy snow that has fallen here in the past four days. The district administration, having had to eat humble pie, sought help from Srinagar and brought four snow cutters from there on Thursday.
And yet, the majority of the link roads, according to residents of various areas who contacted Kashmir Reader over phone, are still buried under snow.
Deputy Commissioner Shopian Choudhary Muhammad Yasin on Wednesday told Kashmir Reader that his administration had sufficient number of sophisticated machines to meet the challenges caused by the recent heavy snowfall. However, on Thursday, as many as four machines broke down, after which the administration asked for help from Srinagar. According to an official, 4 snow cutters have been brought to Shopian from Srinagar for snow clearance.
Locals from many areas, meanwhile, continued to lament the lack of preparedness on the part of the authorities, despite the forecast of heavy snowfall by the meteorological department.
“It has not snowed for the first time here. We have never seen such unpreparedness from the authorities,” said a senior citizen who lives in Shopian town.
Besides the lack of preparedness and dearth of machines, the snow piled on roofs of houses, especially the houses right next to roads, has created problems for the government machinery. An official said that it is taking thrice the effort to clear the snow that keeps sliding down from roofs.
“It should be banned, the raising of tin roofs near roads. If people are doing so, snow stoppers must be installed on the roofs,” the official said.
He said that all the available machines are proving useless before the snow which keeps accumulating on roads after sliding down tin roofs.
Electricity in most of the areas had been restored on Thursday, and so were water supply services, but public and private transport was still off the roads for the fifth consecutive day.

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