Many district roads in Badakhshan remain closed

FAIZABAD (Pajhwok): Many district roads have been blocked for traffic due to snowfall in the remote northeastern province of Badakhshan for the past three months, an official says.

Ahmad Navid Frotan, the governor’s spokesman, told Pajhwok Afghan News the snowfalls had damaged or destroyed 120 residential buildings in the province last winter.

Nearly 30 people were killed and 26 others wounded in snow-related incidents across the province, where a number of key link roads are still closed.

Natural Disaster Management Authority head Syed Abdullah Dehqan confirmed the snow had blocked roads in several districts, causing residents serious difficulties.

“We have provided limited aid to affected people in Nasi, Mayem and Shaki Darwaza districts. However, we are unable to deliver aid from the capital of the province due to road blockades,” he said.

Provincial council secretary Ahmad Javed Javed said: “No assistance plans have been implemented in snow-hit areas due to road blockades.”

But Mohammad Ishaq Yaqubi, another official of Natural Disaster Management Authority, said they had provided cash aid to families of avalanches victims in Shakhab Pur and Wandian areas of Shahr-i-Buzurg district.

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