Bandipora-Gurez road reopens after over 4 months

Srinagar, Apr 10: A strategically important road connecting the border town of Gurez and dozens of other far-flung and remote villages, including those near the Line of Control (LoC) with district headquarters Bandipora in north Kashmir, reopened on Saturday after remaining closed for over four months due to the accumulation of snow, avalanches and slippery conditions.
The road finally opened for one-way traffic today, an official of Police Control Room (PCR) Bandipora told UNI over the phone.
Today traffic will ply from Bandipora to Gurez, a border town surrounded by Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (POK) from three sides, he said.
The vehicles had to pass through snow wall from both sides of the road, he said adding efforts are going on by the Beacon project to remove snow to make it a two-way road.
The administration airlifted dozens of passengers, mostly ill and students, from Gurez to Bandipora during the winter.
However, residents of the border areas demanded the construction of a tunnel at Razdan pass to make it a weather road. They alleged that due to closure of the road people are facing a shortage of essentials, including vegetables, petrol and diesel.