Snow clearance work on Sgr-Leh highway starts

Ganderbal, Feb 25: The snow clearance operation on 434 KM long Srinagar-Leh highway was Kick started by Border Roads Organisation (BRO) on Saturday.
A Beacon official told Rising Kashmir that the snow clearance work on the strategic highway was started from Baltal side while the project Vijayak started from Drass side and is going in full swing.
The road was closed on January 6 following inclement weather, he said, adding that the snow clearance operation will be completed by the end of March from Baltal side.
The sophisticated snow cutters have been pressed into service to clear the snow accumulated on the highway.
However, he said that every year due to the huge avalanches at several places of Zojila Pass including Captain Morh, Shaitani Nallah, Mandir Morh, Bajri Nallah the highway is buried under 40 to 50 feet of snow and is posing a severe challenges to the BRO and Project Vijayak even though both are making all efforts to restore the highway in particular time.
He added that due to heavy snow, there is a chance that the Srinagar-Ladakh Highway might take a longer time to reopen than last year.
The official further said that the toughest work to clear snow is from Baltal to ZeroPoint Zojila, adding that if weather remains dry the road is all set to open by the end of March.