Strategic Zojila pass on Srinagar-Kargil-Leh road opened after 73 days

AjayBanerjee

New Delhi, March 19

One of the two strategic roads to Ladakh was reopened on Saturday after a 73 day closure due to winter and heavy snow.

The Border Roads Organisation on Saturday sent across the first vehicles across the Zoji La – a 11,650-feet high pass — on the 420-km long Srinagar-Kargil-Leh highway.

Average closure of pass in earlier years has been 135 days, a spokesperson of the Ministry of Defence said from Srinagar.

This year, the pass closed on January 4 and was kept open in November-December after hectic snow clearance effort by the BRO.

The connectivity across Zojila Pass was initially established on March 3, improvement of road surface followed and today a ‘trial vehicle across towards Kargil.

Zo ji La located some 130 east of Srinagar connects Kashmir with Ladakh.

Speaking on the occasion, Lt Gen Rajeev Chaudhry, Director General Border Roads, commended the officials of Project Beacon and Vijayak in achieving this feat.

It will facilitate availability of essential goods and supplies for people of Ladakh and also assist in movement of army convoys.

Last year, heavy snow coupled with continuous bad weather conditions, poor visibility and avalanches had delaying the openingof the pass to April.

The other road route is the 425-km Manali-Leh road that has five-high passes and gets more snow.

The road routes to Ladakh are important as Indian and Chinese troops are locked in a military standoff along the Line of Actual Control in Eastern Ladakh. Before the LAC crisis, the two roads normally opened by April-end or early May depending upon the snow melt.

Snow cutters are deployed to open the route.

Once the tow road routes close, the only option is to fly out supplies from the logistics hub in Chandigarh. But even these flights have time restrictions. Planes have to fly out of Leh before noon as a rise in temperature coupled with rarefied oxygen affect engine performance of the planes.