Galliat blanketed in white shawl

M Bilal Baseer Abbasi

ABBOTTABAD: Famed tourist spot of the country the Galiaat and its different areas including Nathia Gali, Donga Galli, Changla Galli, Mushkpuri & Miranjani Peak, Thandiani and Sajikot Waterfall after a prolonged dry spell, received first snowfall of the season, bringing the mercury down and making the weather extremely cold.

The appealing resplendency of Galiyat was even more eye catching after different mountains and peaks of the region was seen covered with white. The first snowfall of the season was started about 2:00 p.m on Monday and continued till next day.The snowfall was recorded between 3-4 inches on Mushkpuri and Changla.

The snowfall was good news for people who reportedly rushed to the snow-clad valleys of Galiyat for rejoicing and have fun. It was also good for Galliat and Murree as the areas were in gripped of water shortage due to prolonged dry period.

The people were seen shivering with cold following absence of gas in the region and prolonged power outages in different areas of Galliat. School going children’s parents asked for vacations to private and government schools authorities.

Talking to local media, traders of Galiyat area said due to negligence of FHA the main road of Galiyat remained blocked in first snowfall as they did not made any contract for clearance of snow on main road. They said due to blockage of roads with snow people of the area were facing a lot of problems. They claimed that number of tourists entered in Murree but cannot reached to Galiyat due to traffic problems. They requested to higher authorities for taking notice of the matter.

On other hand, Spokesperson of Galliyat Development Authority (GDA) had claimed that control room has been activated and complaint cell comprised on GDA, C&W and district administration members has been setup also. He said all the facilities regarding to rescue will be provided to tourers and other denizens on emergency basis. While answering the question to the correspondent he stated due to immediacy and inappropriate parking vehicles stick in traffics issues.