Srinagar-Leh highway: The Border Roads Organisation (BRO) opened the 434 km lengthy Srinagar-Leh highway for traffic on Thursday. The highway, which connects the Ladakh area with the remaining of the nation, has been opened for traffic after being remained closed for 66 days. Earlier on January 6 this yr, the highway was closed owing to the heavy snowfall.
The first convoy of autos carrying important objects to the Ladakh area was flagged off by BRO Director General Lt. General Rajeev Chaudhary in the presence of the chief engineers of the 2 initiatives accountable for sustaining the highway on two sides of the Zojila Pass.
Notably, Zozila Pass is positioned on the Srinagar-Kargil-Leh street (NH-1) at a top of 11,650 toes and gives a significant strategic hyperlink between Kashmir Valley and Ladakh area. This move used to usually shut by October-November yearly and re-open solely by April-May, with the whole closure time averaging to nearly 5 to 6 months.Â
 Zozila Pass was saved open until January 6
With the renewed concentrate on infrastructure improvement and augmentation of connectivity to the Northern Borders in current years, there was a strategic requirement of minimising the closure of Zozila Pass throughout winters. The BRO accordingly ensured that the Zozila Pass was saved open for traffic until as late as January 6 this yr, thereby creating a brand new historic priority of its sort.
The benefit accrued by conserving Zozila open until this late might be assessed by the truth that nearly 13,500 autos crossed the move between the top of November 2022 and January 2023.
Despite a spell of extreme winter which has witnessed the very best snowfall in the final 5 years, BRO rose to the problem and initiated varied measures to make sure the early opening of the Zozila Pass. Finding a transparent window of dry climate in the primary week of February, snow clearance groups have been pushed into instant motion by Project Beacon and Project Vijayak from Sonamarg and Dras ends of Zozila.
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Zozila move remained closed for 66 days
After sustained and relentless efforts, preliminary connectivity throughout Zozila Pass was established on March 11, 2023. Improvement and widening of a street surfaces have been carried out since then to facilitate the protected passage of autos. A trial convoy of autos has been efficiently handed by the Zozila on 16 Mar 2023, thereby guaranteeing that the move remained closed for solely 66Â days this yr as in comparison with 73 days final yr and 160-180 days in the yesteryears.Â
Likewise, Razdan Pass, which gives the one street connectivity between the Gureiz Sector and the Kashmir Valley, has additionally been efficiently reopened on March 16, 23 after a niche of simply 58 days. Other vital passes at Sadhna, Pharkiyan Gali and Zamindar Gali have been saved open all through this winter season.Â
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BRO DG commends organisation’s ‘karmayogis’Â
Speaking on the event, Lt Gen Chaudhry, counseled the “karamayogis” of ‘Project Beacon’ and ‘Project Vijayak’ in reaching this feat. Early opening of the Zozila and Razdan Passes will facilitate augmentation of the provision of important items and providers for the individuals of Ladakh and Gureiz Valley.
He reiterated BRO’s dedication in direction of nation-building and service to the individuals. During the interplay, Lt Gen Chaudhry mentioned that the trial motion of autos has been carried out efficiently immediately and the choice to open the street for civil traffic will probably be taken by the Civil Administration after the conduct of the joint inspection.
