Efforts on to restore Manali-Leh highway by end of March

Tribune News Service

Dipender Manta

Mandi, March 6

To restore the strategically important Manali-Leh highway till the end of March, the Border Roads Organisation has engaged its workforce and machinery to clear snow from Darcha towards Leh in Lahaul and Spiti.

On Saturday, the BRO had conducted a recce via a chopper from Lahaul to Sarchu, the boundary line of Himachal and the Union Territory of Ladakh to start snow clearance operation toward Darcha from Sarchu to restore the Baralacha pass on the Manali-Leh highway.

In the past few days, bad weather has adversely affected the snow clearance operation led by the BRO on this highway. The road stretch between Manali and Patseo was cleared by the BRO earlier but the fresh spell of snow last week had covered the entire stretch of road once again.

The BRO on Saturday restored the Manali-Leh highway up to Darcha from Manali for the movement of 4x4 vehicles. It has also restored the Sansari-Killar-Thirot-Tandi road for traffic between Tandi and Killar.

Now, the focus of the BRO is to restore the 425-km-long Manali-Leh highway for the access of Army vehicles as well as civilians.

BRO officials said the restoration of this highway via Baralacha pass was a challenging task because the stretch was prone to

avalanches. The BRO is making a strategy to engage its workforce and machinery at different points on this highway between Sarchu and Darcha to speed up the snow clearance operation in the region.

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