Back to Index

Road to Ladakh via Rohtang opens

         Rohtang Pass (HP): Traffic has resumed on the second highest motorable road in the world. The Border Roads Organization (BRO) cleared the snow from a highly treacherous road connecting Ladakh with the rest of the country. The road linking Manali and Leh towns is closed for over six months every year, as high mountain passes are cut off with heavy winter snow. The rugged 470-kilometer road passes through the 5,360 meters high Tanglang La pass and the Rohtang Pass is, however, the biggest hurdle on the long-winding road. The BRO used snow cutters and heavy machinery to clear the road, which also serves as a strategic route for the army to reach the mountainous town of Leh . "As per the official timing we have to start clearing the road from March 1st and we have to finish it by 15th May. But due to snowfall around March 8 and 9 we had to start it all over again. We started the clearing again on 20th March from the beginning and finished it on 5th May," said Lieutenant Colonel Jaswant Singh of BRO. The weather changes unpredictably, and temperatures dip to as low as minus 40 degrees Celsius making working in the region harsh and the sun is extremely bright. The only other vital road link to Leh, from Srinagar city in Jammu and Kashmir via Kargil town, was opened by BRO a fortnight ago. The BRO, established as an arm of the Indian army, is responsible for construction and maintenance of vital border highways across the entire Himalayan range. The BRO has also undertaken fencing stretches of India 's porous borders with Bangladesh.
-May 5,  2007