SWAT/ABBOTTABAD, Feb 5: The intermittent rains and snowfall paralysed life in various parts of Frontier province on Monday as severe cold forced people to remain indoors.

The heavily overcast conditions persisted and wide spread drizzle, thunder and heavy snowfall on the hills had already drenched vast region of the Swat, Dir, Abbottabad, Mansehra, Waziristan, and Landikotal.

According to Met office the westerly weather system that is prevailing in most of the upper parts of the Frontier region is likely to persist for another couple of days.

In Swat the snow began falling from Monday soaking low-lying areas and coating the mountains with white blanket.

The snowfall started in the morning at hilly areas including Kalam, Madyan, Behrain and Malam Jaba. However, it later descended to low-lying areas including Mingora, headquarters of Swat, after about 10 years interval. The residents came out of their houses to enjoy the snowfall.

The police at Madyan said one and a halt feet snow was recorded in the area. It may be recalled that employees of the Met office had left the area for a couple of months ago due to the militancy and growing influence of the men of Mualana Fazlullah of Imam Derhi.

The Swat is a scenic valley which had attracted a large number of tourists from within the country as well as abroad but after the eruption of fighting between militants and security forces the tourists could not be in a position to visit the area and enjoy the snowfall.

Khyber Agency too is in the grip of a severe cold as Landi Kotal and its surroundings received mild snowfall on Tuesday morning. The residents remained indoors as the mercury dipped down due to snowfall and over night rain. The renewed cold spell added to the miseries of local residents as they were already faced with long hours of unannounced load-shedding and shortage of other sources of fuel.

People witnessed heavy snowfall after a long time in the troubled North and South Waziristan regions. This time the snowflakes descended upon Wana town, bringing joy as well as trouble for the local population.

Upper parts of Galyat received four to six feet snow while the lower parts got two feet snowfall during the last 48 hours.

Due to heavy snowfall in Nathiagali, Changla Gali, Donga Gali, Ayubia, Thandiyani and other hilly areas, the road link between Abbottabad and Muree is closed from Kala Bagh onward.

All the link roads in Galyat are completely closed for all sort of traffic and people of the area have demanded of the authorities to take immediate steps to clear the roads.Huge funds are spent on the removal of snow from the main Abbottabad-Nathiagali-Muree road and link roads each year, an official source said, adding that the contractors don’t possess special and sophisticated snow removing machinery but using ordinary means including dumpers and other heavy machinery to clear the roads of the snow.