Zojila Pass to open for traffic soon to ensure supply of essentials to Ladakh

Srinagar, Feb 06: The Leh-Srinagar highway, a crucial link connecting the strategic Ladakh with Srinagar as the Zojila Pass is likely open for vehicular movement, officials said.
On Tuesday, Deputy Commissioner Kargil, Shrikant Suse visited Zojila Pass to take stock of snow clearance works on Highway. He was accompanied by several district officers.
A senior official said during the visit, the DC took stock of the snow clearance measures and other activities being carried out to open the road as soon as possible.
The snow clearance team informed DC Kargil that although the road has been connected but the cleaning of road is pending. The team of BRO and VIJAYAK informed him that once the cleaning of road is done, the road will open for vehicular traffic.
DC Kargil has directed the teams to speed up the pending work so that the highway is made ready for smooth passage of passengers to their respective locations and the supply of required essential commodities to Ladakh is ensured.
DC Shrikant directed BRO and Vijayak to speed up the work and make the highway motorable at the earliest.
Residents of Kargil said that the district is facing shortage of vegetables as the highway remains closed affecting the essential supplies in the region.
The Leh-Srinagar highway was closed for traffic on January 28 as substantial snow accumulated on the Zojila Pass stretch.
This is the longest period in recent years that the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) has been able to keep the critical road open aided by negligible, or in some places almost nil, snow and the latest technology.
Every year, the BRO is involved in snow clearance operations in tough weather conditions to keep the Zojila Pass, located at 11,800 feet altitude, open as there is a minimum of 30-40 feet of snow from mid-December onwards.
In the winter of 2020-21, the road was closed to traffic on December 31, 2020; in 2021-22, it was closed on January 4, 2022; and in 2022-23, it was closed on January 6, 2023, according to BRO records.
However, this year saw negligible or almost nil precipitation snow in the higher reaches and rainfall in the lower across the northwest Himalayas.
Data from the India Meteorological Department (IMD) showed that till January 24, the Union territories of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh received zero precipitation resulting in minus 100 percent departure while the hills of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh showed minus 99 percent departure.
The BRO maintains 27 high-altitude snow-bound passes in the Ladakh sector. Each year, it aims at reducing the number of days that these passes are closed for traffic. With rising temperatures and lesser snowfall, traditionally Zojila and other passes were opened in April or sometimes even in May.
Meanwhile, as per traffic police department spokesman tha Srinagar-Sonamarg-Gumri road is still blocked due to snow accumulation. While traffic shall be allowed from both sides on Jammu- Srinagar National Highway (NH-44) viz Jammu towards Srinagar and vice- versa on Wednesday.
“These vehicles shall be allowed from Nagrota (Jammu) towards Srinagar and from Qazigund towards Jammu after 0800 hrs. after getting green signal from NHAI. Commuters are advised to follow lane discipline,” he said.