No shortage of diesel: BRO team

Tribune News Service

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Mandi, May 6

A team of the Border Roads Organisation (BRO), which is engaged in removing snow from the Manali-Leh highway, has reached the top of the Rohtang Pass.

Col KP Rajendra Kumar, Commander, 38 Border Road Task Force (BRTF), Manali, said BRO personnel had reached the top of Rohtang last night and the highway would be opened by May 15.

He said there was no shortage of diesel, equipment and manpower and the road would be opened as scheduled. However, throwing the highway open for traffic could take some time due to repair of the road.

The BRO had launched the snow-clearing operation on the Manali-Leh highway on March 19. The Commander said the entire stretch could be opened by June 15.

During the snow-clearing operation, the BRO personnel encountered more than 40 feet of snow at several stretches. Around 250 BRO personnel were engaged in the operation from both sides of the road, he said.

The Commander said eight dozers, two snow-cutters and four excavators were pressed into service on both sides (Manali and Lahaul-Spiti) to make it motorable.

The work to clear snow from the highway usually starts in the first week of March. But the restoration of the highway, which is of strategic importance from the defence point of view, was delayed due to prolonged unfavourable weather conditions. The Lahaul valley has remained cut off from the rest of the country for several months every year after snow blocks the 479-km Manali-Leh highway.

The Rohtang Pass, the high altitude road link between Manali and Keylong in Himachal Pradesh, remains closed for traffic due to heavy snowfall during winter season.