Abbottabad:
National Highway Authority (NHA) and Balakot Tehsil administration officials announced on Sunday that the Naran road was reopened after five months of closing due to strong snowfall. The provisions for tourists should be completed in the next three days.
Naran, one of the busiest tourist attractions in the country, was closed in November of last year, following strong snowfall in the region. Local officials said the road had been opened after cutting the glaciers that blocked the Kaghan motorway. Naran is located in the upper valley of Kaghan in the Manshra Du KP district at an altitude of 2,409 meters. According to some estimates, around 1.5 million people visit the Naran valley each year.
Naran is also the gateway to Gilgit Hunza in summer via the Babusar pass. During winters, the temperature often remains less than 0 ° C with strong snowfall. In summers, the temperature rarely exceeds 15 ° C with strong precipitation. The tourist destination remains very busy in summer, when the snowy roads are open. The public movement continues until the fall. In winter, snowfall block the roads.
“The Kaghan motorway was reopened for traffic until Naran after a closure of five months,” said the Manshra district policeman on Sunday. “The NHA restored the road to traffic by cutting large glaciers on the Kaghan motorway.”
The Balakot Tehsil administration asked tourists to go to Naran when the weather cleared and the facilities were finished. The DPO said that the arrangements for Naran tourists would be completed in the next three days.
NHA officials said the work was underway to open the Kaghan highway to Babusar Top, the GB region’s entry point, located about 65 kilometers from Naran.
