Snow-clearing work on Manali-Leh road begins

Dushyant Singh Pundir

Tribune News Service

Mandi, March 19

The Border Roads Organisation (BRO) launched a snow-clearing operation on the Manali-Leh highway today.

Col KP Rajendra Kumar, Commander, 38 Border Road Task Force (BRTF), Manali, said they would restore the 222-km stretch up to Sarchu by May, while the remaining stretch would be opened for the vehicular traffic by June.

He said they had already cleared snow on a 21-km stretch. Today, they started the operation from Gulaba after performing a yajana. They would now clear snow from a 30-km stretch up to Rohtang Pass (13,050 ft), the gateway to Lahaul-Spiti valleys.

On the first day, the BRO encountered around seven feet snow. Some patches on the highway were covered under more than 30 feet of snow. Around 100 BRO personnel were engaged in the operation, sources said.

The Commander said dozens of dozers, snow cutters and excavators had been pressed into service on both sides of the road to make it motorable. The work to clear snow usually starts in the first week of March. But this time, the restoration of the highway, which is of strategic importance from the defence point of view, was delayed due to prolonged unfavourable weather conditions.

The Lahaul valley remains cut off from the rest of the country for several months every year after snow blocks the 479-km Manali-Leh highway.