Less snowfall paves way for early opening of Ladakh lifeline
Less snowfall has turned out to be a blessing in disguise for the arid Ladakh region this year as the strategic 434-km Srinagar-Kargil-Leh highway, the lifeline of the country’s cold desert, is likely to be opened to traffic by March 25, almost one and a half months earlier than its opening last year.
The highway usually remains closed for more than five months from December to first week of May due to accumulation of heavy snow at Zojila — the gateway to the Ladakh region. This time around Zojila experienced less snowfall, hence teams of Project BEACON and Project Vijayak were able to clear the snow almost one and a half months before the normal schedule.
The highway that traverses through two mountain ranges was closed for vehicular movement in December last year. The road first crosses the Great Himalayan range at Zojila and then the Zanskar mountain range at Fatula to enter into Ladakh.
The Zojila witnesses a maximum standing snow of around 5-6 metres every year and the temperature sometimes plummets to minus 28 to minus 25 degree Celsius.
“Essential clearances on the highway, which falls under our jurisdiction, are over. We have already cleared the snow for one-way traffic while passes are being created to clear the two-way traffic. Due to the prevailing inclement weather, which is expected to continue till March 15, we are hopeful of clearing the road for traffic by the end of this month,” Brigadier AK Das, Chief Engineer, Project BEACON, told KP over phone.
The Chief Engineer said the highway was thrown open to traffic on May 13 last year. “This time, we have also cleared the snow from Rajdan Pass till the Gurez region of Kashmir and it will also be opened in April. Last year, this pass was opened on May 20,” he added.
The Centre had recently started the exercise for the construction of South East Asia’s longest tunnel (14.08-km) connecting Sonamarg with the Gumri area in Kargil district.
Following allegations of favouritism, the Centre had terminated the contract awarded to IRB Infrastructure Developers and announced that the rebidding process would be completed in the next three months.
