Srinagar-Leh national highway to open tomorrow

Srinagar, Apr 30 (UNI) The 434-km Srinagar-Leh national highway would be formally thrown open for vehicular traffic tomorrow, after remaining closed for six winter months.

XV Corps General Commanding-in-Chief (GOC) Lt Gen A S Sekhon will inaugurate the re-opening of the Zojila Pass tomorrow and flag off a trial run of an Army convoy carrying essential stores for troops deployed in the Ladakh region.

Zojila pass joins Kashmir with the Indus valley through the Srinagar-Leh national highway.

The Srinagar-Leh national highway 1D, the only surface link between the Kashmir valley and the desert region of Ladakh, would remain open for the next six months.

The road had been closed for vehicular traffic at the beginning of the winter season in November last year.

The road, declared a national highway (NH-1D) last year, was being maintained by the Border Roads Organisation (BRO).

The Project Beacon, in coordination with Project Himank, had deployed the snow clearance equipment along the highway and the men worked relentlessly to make the road fit for vehicular traffic.

About 30-40 ft snow had accumulated at various points along the national highway, a major part of which is avalanche-prone.

UNI