The 439km Srinagar route opened on March 16 after 68 days, a far cry from the time when the 11,540ft Zoji La, 100 km from Srinagar, used to be closed for months. The pass was kept open till January 6. The 427km Manali-Leh road via the Atal tunnel opened on Saturday after 138 days, against May/June earlier.
The 16,561ft Shinku La (pass) on the Nimmu-Padam-Darcha (NPD) road opened on Thursday after a gap of 55 days. This road is being built as a third axis to Ladakh and yet to be blacktopped.
Early resumption of traffic will allow the forces to space out – instead of squeezing in 3-4 months – the annual rotation of larger-than-usual number of troops deployed in the region since the May 2020 Galwan border clashes with the Chinese army.
It will also allow trucking of civil and fresh supplies instead of costly air freight. Homebound Ladakhis and guest workers will have a cheaper travel option than the prohibitively expensive flights that remain the only means when heavy snow cuts of road connectivity.
The short closures of the difficult passes has demonstrated BRO’s snow-clearing capability. The government aims to capitalise on this by boring two tunnels – one under Zoji La, which will be completed soon, and the other under Shinku La – to ensure all-weather connectivity to Ladakh, which will have a major bearing on defence preparedness and quality of life in the region.
The Shinku La tunnel will allow traffic to avoid the four high, avalanche-prone narrow passes, desolate wind-swept landscape and extreme cold on the Manali-Leh route during winters.
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The post is published through a syndicated feed and attributed to Times Of India
