Driving risky on potholed Manali-Leh highway

Tribune News Service

Mandi, June 27

A few stretches on the Manali-Leh highway are full of potholes, making travelling difficult and risky.

Some rivulets flow alongside the highway from Darcha to Leh where the road condition is risky for the movement of vehicles. Recently, a truck overturned on the road between Sarchu and Pang. Accidents happening on these stretches of the road are being attributed to its poor condition.

Truck drivers travelling on the stretch have urged the government to undertake urgent maintenance work between Sarchu and Pang. Besides, a few road stretches between Baralacha and Sarchu are in a poor condition, needing repairs.

Mukesh Thakur, a resident of Mandi, visited Leh from Lahaul and found travelling on the Manali-Leh highway cumbersome from Darcha to Leh. He said that the road required urgent maintenance to ensure safe travelling for tourists as well as local commuters. The Border Roads Organisation (BRO) should identify such key points on the highway for repair work.

“From Zingzingbar to Bralacha La, some stretches of the road are in a poor condition and travelling is tough. The BRO has engaged its workforce and machinery at these places to make the road smooth for travelling. The condition of the Manali highway is bad between Balacha and Killing Sarai,” Pintu, an adventure lover from Manali, said.

BRO officials said that the workforce and machinery had been engaged on the Manali-Leh highway at different stretches for its maintenance. At key locations, where the condition of the road is poor, the BRO was trying to find out a permanent solution.

The Manali-Leh highway is strategically important as it provides Indian troops access to Leh from the Himachal side. Besides, a large number of tourists and adventure lovers travel on this highway every year during the summer towards Leh.

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