Manali-Leh road to open on June 8

MC Thakur

MANALI, JUNE 2

The 475-km-long strategically important Manali-Leh highway will be thrown open for traffic on June 8, BRO officials said here today.

The officials said they had cleared snow from the 222-km Manali-Sarchu section and now they are engaged in widening and maintenance of the road. They had cleared snow from the entire stretch on May last, but as the surface condition at many stretches was not good it took time before it could be declared open.The officials said the road would be thrown open for all vehicular traffic on June 8. Snow-clearing from 13,050 ft high Rohtang Pass and (4,883 m) high Baralacha La posed the toughest challenge. “Avalanches and landslides posed threat to those engaged in snow-clearing work and machinery. Still, we succeeded in clearing snow without any harm to our men and machines”, official said.The Manali-Leh highway winds its way through the 13,050-ft-high Rohtang Pass, Baralacha pass (4,883 m), Lachlungla (5,065 m) and Tanglangla (5,359 m). Project Himank of the BRO has already cleared snow between Leh and Sarchu. This year the passes and most stretch of Manali-Leh highway had received more snow as compared to the previous three-four years.

The Manali-Leh highway has extreme strategic importance. It is the lone lifeline of the local residents of Leh- Ladakh. With challenging curves, high-mountain passes and scenic view the road is very popular among tourists.

Rohtang Pass, 51 km from here, was officially thrown open for vehicles on April 28.