Suhail Bhat
SRINAGAR, Jan 11: The business of shopkeepers has been severely affected across South Kashmir as the snow clearance of the roads has left them with mounds of snow in front of their shops.
The shopkeepers across all the four districts of south Kashmir-Pulwama, Shopian, Kulgam, and Anantnag – complained that they were unable to open their shops properly in the last one week owing to the presence of piles of snow on shop fronts.
The snow sliding down the rooftops has added to the problems of the shopkeepers as it blocked the entrance of shops and forced many to down shutters. “I have not opened my shop since last Sunday due to the presence of snow in front of it. The municipality has failed to clear snow. They only come here to collect money,” Abdul Rasheed, a shopkeeper at main Chowk Pulwama, told Excelsior.
Following the heaviest snowfall of the season last week, the local municipalities of all the four South Kashmir districts cleared snow from the roads of main markets. But they deposited the snow on roadsides and sidewalks causing problems for both pedestrians and shopkeepers.
The shopkeepers at Shopian said the failure of authorities to lift snow from the sidewalks and shop fronts has forced them to shut their shops. “I could not find my shop. It is shrouded in the snow. It took me almost 2-3 hours to make a way for myself. I opened the shop but the view of the shop is still blocked with snow”, Ghulam Mohammad, a textile shop owner at Shopian’s main market, said.
The shopkeepers said that there was already 4-5 feet snow piled up on the shop fronts and it had doubled after the snow cleared from the road was also deposited here. “Without waiting for the officials I took the shovel and cleared half of the snow but everyone was not able to do, forcing them to close their shops,” Atta Mohammad, a shopkeeper from the Hernag area of Anantnag district.
Divisional Commissioner Kashmir, PK Pole, told Excelsior that the administration would clear the markets after connectivity of villages is restored. “Our first priority was to connect tehsil headquarters and that has been done. Second priority is to connect the village and once that is completed, we will clear markets,” he said.
Meanwhile, to tackle the issues caused by snow sliding down roofs on to roads, officials in Shopian have asked for the constitution of a committee that would make a road map for future constructions and come up with solutions for the existing roofs.
The Roads and Buildings (R&B) Department in Shopian has been removing snow from roads in Shopian town using trucks and JCBs. The process according to officials every year costs lakhs of rupees, besides plenty of time. They said that the sliding snow also poses a risk to the public as there have been instances where people have been injured or even died after coming under snow slide.
Though the Deputy Commissioner’s office and the Municipal Committee last year ordered for installation of snow stoppers roofs, the plan was never implemented either by the public or the Government, with the excuse that blocking snow on roofs will lead to the breakdown of roofs and loss to property.
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