Mansehra bans travel to GB via Kaghan Valley until next summer

The scenic but weather-beaten road linking Khyber Pakhtunkhwa with Gilgit-Baltistan through the Kaghan Valley has been closed for all travel until the warmer months return next year, local officials said on Wednesday, citing rising safety risks from snow and ice.

Assistant Commissioner Balakot Hasrat Khan confirmed the decision while speaking to reporters after a high-level meeting between administrative and emergency departments earlier this week. The gathering, he said, brought together senior representatives from rescue services, local councils, highway authorities, police and weather monitoring teams, all flagging worsening road conditions in the upper valley.

“Passenger vehicles, bikers and tourists won’t be allowed beyond the safer points for now. The aim is to prevent accidents, not tourism,” Khan said, adding that authorities on the GB side, including the Chilas district administration and police, had taken a similar decision for the Mansehra-Naran-Jalkhad (MNJ) Road.

Limited window for winter tourism

Officials, however, have left a narrow door open for late-season visitors wanting a glimpse of Saiful Muluk and surrounding areas. From Thursday, travel for tourists will be allowed only up to Battakundi and Lake Saiful Muluk, and that too between 11am and 3pm. The four-hour window is meant to ensure vehicles move when the sun has softened road ice, with traffic halted outside these hours, when the drop in temperature turns roads into risky glass-like tracks.

Khan said vehicles attempting the limited winter route must have tyre chains fitted, a move that has already become common among locals navigating frost-covered paths. He noted that the administration expects a fresh round of snowfall in days, but stressed that travel up to Naran remains possible until the next heavy snow arrives.

Mountain communities moving to lower ground

As winter tightens its grip, most families living in the higher reaches of Kaghan have started their seasonal migration to lower elevations and urban centres. Settlements in Barawai, Battakundi and other snow-prone pockets are almost empty, officials said, with the few remaining households likely to descend after the second major snowfall or within the next seven days.

With people relocating, police outposts in these upper areas have also been packed up for the season. Administrative offices and checkpoints that sway through summer crowds now sit locked, awaiting the thaw.

Road’s return tied to the sun

The administration expects the Kaghan-Babusar Top stretch of the MNJ Road to reopen in early May 2026, when melting snow makes clearance possible. Until then, movement on the key northwestern corridor will remain suspended, officials said, with the closure likely to continue until next summer fully restores safer travel conditions.

The district administration urged travellers to track weather updates, avoid night journeys in snow-hit patches, and cooperate with police and rescue staff at checkpoints. Many accidents, Khan said, can be avoided if travellers simply pause when the mountains warn them to.