Srinagar-Leh Highway to reopen on Friday

Srinagar: The strategic Srinagar-Leh Highway reconnected in a record time of 73 days this year will be thrown open for vehicular movement from March 25. Officials said that the strenuous efforts from project Vijayak and Beacon of Border Roads Organisation (BRO) the snow clearance work was completed in shortest time. Last year the road reopened in second week of April.

However, the traffic on the highway will be allowed on odd, even days till the road conditions get more favorable officials said, adding that only light motor vehicles will be allowed to move from Friday.

   

Officials said that the decision to allow traffic to ply on Srinagar-Leh National Highway from March 25 was taken in a meeting here on Tuesday chaired by the Divisional Commissioner Kashmir, Pandurang K Pole while co-chairing a meeting with Divisional Commissioner Ladakh, Saugat Biswas regarding opening of Srinagar-Leh National Highway.

The meeting was attended by DC Ganderbal; DC Kargil; Chief Engineers of R&B, MED, BEACON & VIJAYAK; Regional Transport Officer, Kashmir; SSP Kargil, SSP Ganderbal, SSP Traffic Ladakh, DSP Traffic Rural Kashmir and Executive Director NHIDCL.

“The meeting decided to open Srinagar-Leh National Highway for traffic from March 25 with movement of vehicles from Srinagar to Leh on the same day. The meeting further decided that only light vehicles shall ply initially on the highway on the pattern of odd-even basis,” an official statement said.

On the occasion, Div Com Kashmir said that one-way traffic from Srinagar to Leh shall ply on odd days while from Leh to Srinagar traffic will ply on even days. He added that from next week there shall be no movement of transport on Fridays.

The cut off time for vehicles from Kashmir side shall remain 6 am at Sonmarg, Ganderbal side and 8:30 am from Kargil side at Meenamarg.

The meeting further decided to establish health check up centers, establishment of joint control room, traffic check posts, positioning of recovery vans, operation of weight bridges to restrict overloading of vehicles besides allow movement of only antiskid chained vehicles.

Regarding any advisory of weather and avalanche, concerned officers were asked to share information on a daily basis.

The highway that is considered to be the lifeline for Ladakh and strategically important remains closed for traffic movement during winter months. However, the highway was kept open till January 5 this year for the maximum period of time to ensure the connectivity between Ladakh and Kashmir.

Located at an altitude of 11,650 feet, Zojija is a strategic pass, that provides vital link between Kashmir Valley and Ladakh and is the key to operational preparedness of the Armed Forces. The pass normally closes by end-November every year, with the onset of winters, when the temperatures dips to subzero degrees and opens only by mid April the next year.

Average closure of pass in earlier years has been 135 days. The renewed focus on infrastructure development of border areas, mandated requirement of keeping the closure of ZojiLa Pass to the minimum. The Zojila Pass was kept open till January 4, 2022 and snow clearance operations recommenced on Feburary 15, 2022 by Projects Beacon and Vijayak of the BRO. As per traffic advisory, subject to fair weather and good road condition traffic (only LMVs) will ply from Friday at 6 am to 8:30 am from Sonamarg towards Kargil.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

eighteen + 11 =