There is relief news for hikers and bikers. The Border Roads Organization (BRO) has officially opened the Leh-Manali National Highway. A road inauguration ceremony was held at Sarchu on the Himachal Pradesh and Leh-Ladakh border on Tuesday. BRO officials were present during this period. However, at present this highway has been opened only for the army.
According to the information, this 427 km long highway connects Manali to Leh. This highway was closed after heavy snowfall in November last year. Now this highway has opened after about six months. This route has been approved under Project Deepak from Himachal Pradesh and Project Himank from Ladakh. In challenging circumstances, army soldiers have removed snow from this road and opened it for the common people. The route from Manali to Sarchu comes under Project Deepak, while the next route comes under Project Himank.
There are many routes on Leh Manali Highway. These include Barlacha Pass (16040 feet), Nakila Pass (15547), Lachungla Pass (16616) and Tanglang La (17482 feet) in height. BRO teams cleared the road by removing 20-30 feet of snow on this highway.
On Tuesday, a ceremony was organized by the teams of both the projects in Sarchu and the ceremony was named as Golden Handshake Ceremony by the officials of both the projects. During this time, Chief Engineer of Deepak Project Naveen Kumar was present. While Colonel Gaurav Bhangari led the entire team. During this, Major Ravi Shankar, Commanding Officer Major Sandeep Kumar were present.
Officials said that on April 21, snow was removed from the entire road. Now it has been opened to the public. At present this road will be opened only for the army and only army trucks will be able to pass through here. Movement of tourists and general public will happen only after the permission of the District Disaster Management.
Lahaul Spiti SP Mayank Chaudhary said that tourists and common people will have to wait for a few more days to travel on Leh Manali Highway. He said that the single lane of the highway has just been opened. Let us tell you that till now tourists are allowed to go only till Darcha of Lahaul Valley. Along with this, Shinkula Road has also been opened. A police post has also been started in Darkha.