As the first anniversary of the Murree tragedy falls next week, the frosty weather currently sweeping the mountains and plains of the country has refreshed the dreadful memories of the calamity, prompting the weather office and the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) to issue advisories for tourists going to the hill stations to exercise extreme caution and adopt all precautionary measures while traveling on the frost covered roads.
\nThe PDMA, while citing an advisory of the regional Met office, Peshawar, has stated that after a long dry spell, a westerly wave has entered the northwestern parts of Balochistan province, which is likely to grip the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province and add a biting chill to the weather.
\nLast year, in the first week of January, what was intended to be a pleasant outing proved a frosty deathtrap for many motorists and families who remained stranded in their cars when a severed snowfall blocked the roads leading to Murree and it turned out in the end that at least 22 people have lost their lives to the icy trap. Could the tragedy have been avoided is a questions which still bothers the bereaved families and those who had been through the nightmare.
\nThe PDMA has forecast rains and snowfall for the next week as the tourist resorts have been received a heavy snowfall posing a potential risk to motorists traveling on the snow-covered roads.
\nLast year, a record number of tourists had thronged Murree and parts of the Northern Areas to enjoy the snowfall, which created difficulties to the authorities to control the situation and keep the roads open to traffic as many cars had been left abandoned in heavy snow. According to estimates, more than 155,000 vehicles had entered Murree in the days ahead of the tragedy.
\nThe chilly weather has brought the routine life across all the four provinces, including Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan and Sindh, and Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan to a standstill and the persisting foggy conditions have disrupted traffic on the country\u2019s highways, multiplying miseries of the poor people. The weather has also led to disrupt the air travel in the country as poor visibility triggered closure of busy airports in the country. The road traffic has been severely affected in several cities.
\nThe National Highways and Motorway Police has also advised drivers to avoid traveling on the Motorways after sunset and instead use the Grand Trunk (GT) Road for travelling. Drivers have also been advised to drive slowly and keep fog lights of their vehicles switched on to avoid any mishap.
\nIt is unfortunate to note that last year\u2019s tragedy mainly took place due to a massive rush of tourists. This year, the authorities have adopted measures for timely response to any eventuality occurring because of the frosty weather. It is all more essential for tourists to avoid unnecessary travel and for the authorities to regulate the inflow of tourists which is vital to avoid further tragedies like the one which happened in Murree.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
As the first anniversary of the Murree tragedy falls next week, the frosty weather currently sweeping the mountains and plains of the country has refreshed the dreadful memories of the calamity, prompting the weather office and the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) to issue advisories for tourists going to the hill stations to exercise extreme […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[11967],"class_list":{"0":"post-304099","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-editorial","7":"tag-weather-advisory"},"yoast_head":"\n