Snowfall shuts Babusar Top, suspending KP-GB traffic

Traffic between Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Gilgit-Baltistan through Babusar Top was suspended on Wednesday after Kaghan Valley received its second-heaviest snowfall of the season, the district police chief in Mansehra said.

Mohammad Waqas Khan, the district police officer, told reporters that traffic had been restricted beyond Bassal, towards the upper parts of Kaghan Valley and neighbouring Diamer district. Fresh snow had made the Mansehra-Naran-Jalkhad (MNJ) Road slippery and dangerous, he said, and police also stopped tourists and motorists from moving past Bassal.

Snowfall began on Tuesday night at high-altitude spots including Saiful Muluk Lake, Lulusar Lake, Battakundi, Bassal and Babusar Top, and continued intermittently through Wednesday, bringing a cold spell to the region.

Khan said police posts in the upper parts of the valley had not yet been closed. If the snowfall continues for a long spell, he said, the MNJ Road may remain blocked until next summer and traffic between the two regions will stay suspended for that period.

Traffic as far as Naran, the commercial hub of the valley, was still open, the DPO said. Tourists were still arriving to see the snow, though in small numbers.

Hussain Deen, chairman of the Hoteliers Association, said hotels and businesses in the upper parts of Kaghan Valley had closed until next summer, while Naran was still welcoming visitors despite the weather.

Families living in Battakundi, Barawai, Bassal and other upper areas have started moving down to Mansehra and other parts of Hazara Division to spend the winter. A local resident of Battakundi said about half the households had already left, and the remaining families would move within the next 10 to 15 days.

Once that migration is complete, he said, the upper valley will stay shut until May next year, and so will the road link between Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Gilgit-Baltistan.