Bandipora, April 18: Residents of Bandipora on Saturday expressed strong concern over what they termed a “lackadaisical approach” by the administration in managing traffic on the Gurez–Bandipora road stating that admin deliberately allows traffic despite adverse weather leaving passengers to die on roads.
Around 30 vehicles were stranded at Razdan Pass on Friday night due to fresh snowfall and later rescued by police and the Border Roads Organisation (BRO).
Officials said the vehicles got stuck late Friday evening after sudden snowfall made the high-altitude stretch extremely slippery and unsafe. Acting swiftly, Bandipora Police, along with BRO teams, launched a rescue operation and safely cleared all stranded vehicles by around 8:30 pm, restoring limited movement on the route.
This is the second such incident during this month. On April 4, nearly 38 vehicles had been stranded and later rescued under similar circumstances. Following that episode, Deputy Commissioner Bandipora Indu Kanwal Chib had acknowledged the issue and assured that a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) would be introduced to regulate traffic movement based on weather conditions.
Locals alleged that despite prior weather warnings, adequate preventive measures are not being taken to regulate traffic. “Earlier, traffic was temporarily halted during heavy rain or snowfall. Now vehicles are allowed to move even in risky conditions,” a resident said, expressing concern over passenger safety.
Locals said most of the vehicles stranded during the night were plying on the risky road without chains as is necessary atleast at the Razdan stretch thats slippery owing to icy condition of road
While locals appreciated the prompt response of the police and BRO in rescuing stranded passengers, they criticised the civil administration for not enforcing stricter controls. Some residents warned that such lapses could put lives at risk if timely intervention is not ensured.
They have urged the district administration to implement and strictly enforce SOPs for traffic regulation on the Gurez road, particularly during adverse weather, to prevent recurrence of such incidents.
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