Rohtang snow-clearing ops begin a month in advance

Dipender Manta

Tribune News Service

Mandi, February 20

The BRO has set up a target to restore Rohtang Pass for traffic one month before it was done on the previous year. The Pass lies blocked for traffic movement since November. People of tribal district of Lahaul Spiti have been cut off from the rest of the state since then.

The BRO has deployed high-tech machines to clear the snow in speedy way. The whole area is avalanche-prone, which is a major challenge for the authority to restore the Pass within the stipulated time. However, this year, the deposit of snow on ground is less comparatively the previous years, which will be an advantage for those engaged in the snow-clearing task.

Importantly, the BRO starts operation every year in the first or second week of March depending on the weather condition but it is for the first time that the authority has started the snow-clearance operation of Rohtang Pass on February 20.

The residents of tribal district Lahaul Spiti were delighted when they heard about the mission of the BRO to restore the mighty Rohtang Pass for traffic early as due to closure of Rohtang pass for months, the tribals remained trapped in the snow-bound valley for months. During the period they are dependent on the state government to move in and out of district even in emergency cases because the state government provides helicopter service to airlift them out of valley in emergency cases.

Brigadier MS Baghi, Chief Engineer, Project Deepak, said the “BRO has started snow clearance operation one month before as compared to the previous years. We are hopeful that the BRO will clear the Pass till May. However the restoration of the highway would depend on weather conditions in the region.”

“We have hired high tech machines. We are using high tech snow cutter and unmanned radio-operated Dozer which will be used in the avalanche-prone areas. It would be a great help to avoid any harm to our workforce during snow clearance operation”, he remarked.

“We have already started snow-clearance operation from Darcha ahead toward Sarchu on the Manali-Leh highway. The other team will move towards Rohtang Pass from Koksar in Lahaul side to connect the pass as soon as possible. We are also planning to restore Kunzum Pass earlier for the residents of Spiti valley on the Gramphu-Kaza road”, he added.

Hoteliers of Kullu-Manali have hailed the decision of BRO because they are hopeful that early restoration of Rohtang Pass would boost tourist footfall in the region early. Due to its panoramic view, Rohtang Pass is a major attraction for tourists.

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