Srinagar, April 1 The Border Road Organisation (BRO) opened the Zojila Pass on Tuesday in record time after a mere closure for 32 days.
“On April 1, with Lt Gen Raghu Srinivasan, DG, BRO, flagged off the first convoy towards Ladakh. Zojila Pass is one of the most critical and challenging high-altitude passes in the world, connecting Kashmir Valley to Ladakh,” said the Defence Ministry.
It added that this year, the pass faced an unusually short but intense closure period due to relentless snowfall caused by a Western Disturbance for 17 days, from 27 February to 16 March 2025.
“The sheer volume of accumulated snow posed a formidable challenge. The BRO personnel, working under extreme conditions, battling sub-zero temperatures, high velocity winds, and avalanche-prone terrain, cleared the snow in a record 15 days, between 17 March and 31 March,” said the ministry.
It added that every year, the formidable pass experiences heavy snowfall, forcing its closure during the harsh winter months.
“This temporary closure impacts not only the movement of troops and essential supplies but also disrupts the daily lives of the local population in Ladakh, which depends on this route for trade, medical support, and economic activities,” it added.
The ministry said that due to technological advancements, improved snow-clearance techniques, and the relentless efforts of BRO, this closure period has been drastically reduced from about six months a few decades ago to a few weeks now.
“The reopening of Zojila Pass is a testament to the dedication of BRO, which has Project Beacon in Kashmir and Project Vijayak in Ladakh to ensure timely restoration of connectivity on this strategic pass,” the ministry said.
The over 400-km-long highway from Srinagar to Leh is used by the army to carry supplies and logistic support for the line of control (LoC) with Pakistan in Kargil district and the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China in Leh district.
The people of Ladakh extensively use this highway to reach other parts. Although there is another highway connecting Manali in Himachal Pradesh with Leh but that highway is not so extensively used by travellers as the Srinagar-Leh highway.
--IANS
sq/dan
Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor