In Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir, the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) has said the tall claims made by the authorities on their alertness have been exposed by the power break-down, road blockades, scarcity of ration and other difficulties faced by the people.
The CPI-M leader, Mohammad Yousuf Tari-gami in a statement issued in Srinagar said that al-though a heavy snowfall is not something new for the region but tall claims being made prove a prank.
Referring to the massive power breakdown that had plunged the entire valley into total darkness, he said that the authorities failed to restore power sup-plies.
The CPI (M) leader wondered that with a few inches of snow the entire administration comes to a grinding halt which is reflective of a dire need for strengthening of disaster preparedness in Kashmir. “The snow is yet to be cleared on many roads and a major road network in rural areas across the valley is yet to see the traffic plying resulting into tremen-dous inconvenience for the general public,” he la-mented. Meanwhile, Kishtwar, Ramban and Doda dis-tricts of Chenab valley also witnessed rain and heavy snowfall as a result of which the cold wave engulfed the whole area while majority of the areas witnessed electricity blackout as well.
Reports said, Kishtwar town and its adjoining areas witnessed massive snowfall during last inter-vening night while areas like Bhujwah, Chatroo, Padder, Nagsni of Kishtwar District, Gandoh, Bhad-erwah, Marmat, Dessa and other areas of Doda dis-trict also witnessed heavy to moderate snowfall and thus brings an end to long dry spell after the area witnessed season first snowfall last month.
Similarly major areas of Ramban district also witnessed heavy snowfall as a result of which the traffic on Jammu-Srinagar highway was stopped by the authorities due to slippery condition of the road as well as massive landslides.—KMS
