The prairies, roads and hillsides whitened when the earliest recorded snowfall in 40 years came cascading down the northern areas on Sunday morning, the 25th of October. One day earlier heavy torrential rain triggered landslides and mud and debris cascaded down the hillsides in Kaghan and Naran, stalling the autos of tourists and blocking the only road linking Naran to the rest of Pakistan. Tourists stuck on roads waited wearily in their cars, growing disconsolate by the minute.

The cold intensified, breaths steamed and the kids began to cry. Weather became extreme as 2 ft snow now clogged the streets; it went up to 4 ft at places. People staying in hotels left their cars on the roads and went back to the hotels. The abandoned cars jammed the roads delaying the road clearing process. Many tourists spent Saturday night in their cars as they couldn’t afford the high room rents. In the nearby markets vendors had began fleecing them, one egg was now being sold for 60 rupees. The snowfall and landslides damaged some power lines and small bridges resulting in a blackout.

The Army Engineering Corps, Frontier Works Organization (FWO), National Highway Authority (NHA) and the local administration worked through the day and night to open the route between Naran and Kaghan which was now clogged with snowdrifts and landslides.

“When the news broke on the media, FWO quickly mobilized its machinery for the rescue. The area in question didn’t fall under our jurisdiction but we were luckily employed 50km ahead of Naran on a road building project of Jalkhad-Babusar-Chilas,” said Lt. Col Abdul Rehman, the Commanding Officer of 141 Road Maintenance Battalion.

Without stopping for over 36 hours, the machines, a Front End loader and two Evacuators skidded across the road between Naran and Kaghan, from Burawai to Batakundi to facilitate the tourists and finally the mission was accomplished without any bad news.

“Earlier the tourists were a bit worried and a fear of unknown haunted them but they took a sigh of relief when they saw us. Our focus remained on snow clearance, safe and guaranteed rescue in the earliest possible time,” Lt. Col Abdul Rehman told Hilal.

On Sunday, upon the local administration’s orders after severe criticism on social media, the tourists were accommodated free of charge. When the road cleared and everyone was in a hurry to go home, it resulted in the blockage of road up to hundreds of meters. With traffic at a standstill and little visibility, people shivered, icy winds gusted through the roads as they waited.

The situation in Naran was even more pressing where 1,000 tourists were stranded as landslides and heavy snow fell at various points.
Meanwhile more than 200 Army troops including engineers, doctors and rescue teams carried out a rescue and relief operation. Army troops distributed blankets, eatables and water among the tourists whose supplies were growing thin by the minute.

The last 1,000 tourists still stranded in Naran Valley were rescued on Monday, the 26th of October as district administration along with FWO and NHA cleared the Mansehra-Naran-Jalkhad road. More than 600 stuck vehicles finally left the valley.

Stranded tourists in Kaghan-Naran turned heads of government authorities as the unprecedented snow fell in the northern areas trapping tourists on the roads and hotels.
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