BRO opens Manali-Leh road ahead of schedule

Dipender Manta

Tribune News Service

Mandi, May 13

The BRO threw the Manali-Leh road open to vehicles through the Baralacha Pass on Saturday. The road had been blocked since November after heavy snowfall.

The strategically important Manali-Leh road is used to send supply to the Army deployed in the Ladakh region.

This year, the BRO had started the snow-clearing operation from Manali on March 12. Generally, the BRO opens the road till the end of May or mid-June but this time, the scanty snow in the winter eased its task.

Taking to The Tribune, BRO Commander Colonel AK Awasthi said, “Despite tough challenges, our team has opened the road in a record time.

The road crosses through high mountains and passes, which receive heavy snow every year and it poses tough challenge to restore the road for traffic movement in time.”

“There is threat to life of workers because of avalanches, but the BRO workforce has worked day and night to restore it for the traffic movement,” he said.

The average elevation of the highway is more than 13,000 feet and its highest elevation is 17,480 ft at Tanglang La.

Mangal Chand Manepa, Regional Manager of the HRTC depot at Keylong said, “We will inspect the road soon to resume bus service on this route.”

With the opening of the Manali-Leh highway, people of Lahaul-Spiti are excited, especially those associated with tourism activities. They are hoping that now the tourist influx will increase as soon as the district administration allows normal traffic on this route.