Shopian: To meet the challenges caused by snow sliding down roofs on to roads, officials in Shopian have asked for the constitution of a committee which would make a road map for future constructions and come up with solutions for the existing roofs.
The Roads and Buildings (R&B) department in Shopian has been removing snow from roads in Shopian town using trucks and JCBs. The process according to officials every year costs lakhs of rupees, besides plenty of time. They said that the sliding snow also poses a risk to the general public as there have been instances where people have been injured or even died after coming under snow slide.
Though the Deputy Commissioner’s office and the Municipal Committee last year ordered for installation of snow stoppers on tin roofs, the plan was never implemented either by the public or the government, with the excuse that blocking snow on roofs will lead to the breakdown of roofs and loss to property.
An official from the Shopian Municipal Committee told Kashmir Reader that the plan was impossible to implement without an assessment of the strength of roofs and the amount of snow that falls on them.
“It would be disastrous if we block the snow on roofs, as they are not built that way,” the official said.
Executive Officer of the Municipal Committee, Muhammad Ismail, told Kashmir Reader that a special committee of engineers both from Shopian and Srinagar should be constituted to find a solution for the problem.
“They can make an assessment of the snow this district receives and how should the roofs be constructed and for the replacement of existing roofs,” he said.
Ismail said that they have cleared snow from a hundred lanes out of more than 200, but at places over 15 feet of snow has accumulated in lanes.

Raashid Hassan