Leh-Manali highway likely to be reopened by March end: BRO

The Leh-Manali highway, connecting Ladakh with Himachal Pradesh, is likely to be opened in the last week of this month, said officials on Thursday amid the snow clearance operations by Border Roads Organisation going on in full swing.

Brigadier Arvinderm, the Project Himank's chief engineer, said the summer snow clearance is being carried out by his men in full swing with modern equipment.

We are likely to open the road up to Sarchu by March 25 which is almost a month earlier than the previous year's date of opening, he said, adding the highway upto Sarchu is maintained by Project Himank with the responsibility to keep it open for the traffic.

He said the snow clearance operation is being carried from three points -- from Upshi side to Taglangla Top (T-Top), from Debring side to Taglangla Top and from Debring towards Pang and Sarchu.

It will be for the first time that the project Himank will open the road ahead of the schedule. Additional teams have been pressed into snow clearance operations on the highway, he said.

The highway has been closed since November last year after heavy snowfall hit the region closing all traffic due to huge snow accumulation.

Our teams are making strenuous efforts despite risks of snow avalanches on the highway. With rise in temperature, there are more risks of avalanches, he said.