KHYBER: The district administration had to employ heavy machinery to remove snow from roads leading to Tirah valley after heavy snowfall in the area that started on Sunday afternoon.

Local residents told Dawn that roads leading to Bagh-Maidan Markaz in Arganga Top, Sarry Kandaw, Haider Kandaw and Dwa Thoey were blocked due to excessive snowfall, which disrupted movement between these localities.

Sharif Khan, a Malakdin Khel resident told Dawn that local residents had to remove snow from the rooftops of their houses multiple times to avoid any accident.

Himself a shopkeeper, he said though the Bagh-Maidan Markaz, the valley’s main bazaar was open but local residents preferred to stay indoors due to closure of link roads. He said residents had never experienced such heavy snowfall during this time of the year.

Abdullah, another local resident, said that it was only the third time that Tirah received snowfall during this season with December and January last remaining mostly dry.

He said Tirah used to receive snowfall multiple times during winters but this year they had three spells of snowfall with little or insignificant amount of snow in the initial two.

He said residents of the valley were expecting a hot summer this year with shortage of water due to less snowfall.

A statement issued from Khyber House on Monday said that hectic efforts were under way to clear snow from the roads at various locations in order to restore vehicular movement.

It said that works and communication department has assisted in providing road clearing machinery which was immediately dispatched to the affected areas.

Published in Dawn, February 27th, 2024