Highways connecting Dushanbe with the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region and Sughd Province have been cleared of snow and movement along them has been restored but not for all vehicles.
“The Dushanbe-Khujand highway has been cleared of snow and reopened to the movement of cars. The Dushanbe-Khorog highway has also been cleared of snow and reopened for traffic. However, the risk of further avalanches remains high and our units on the ground are closely monitoring the situation,” Ms. Umeda Yusufi, a spokeswoman for the Emergencies Committee under the Government of Tajikistan, told Asia-Plus Thursday (February 25) afternoon.
The Branch of Innovative Road Solutions (IRS) in Tajikistan, which operates the toll on the Dushanbe-Chanak highway, notes that the Dushanbe-Khujand highway was closed for traffic for 8-9 hours.
Eight large and small avalanches reportedly hit the highway section from the 67th kilometer to the 81st kilometer in Varzob district on February 23. The largest avalanche was more than 10 meters in height and 80 meters in length.
“Snowfall continues on some sections of the highway and the risk of further avalanches in the area remains high,” Daler Merganov, a spokesman for IRS Tajik Branch, told Asia-Plus today afternoon.
According to him, special road machines are working in areas of possible avalanches.
In this connection, the Emergencies Committee advises people throughout the country not to travel to mountain areas unnecessarily.
