Heavy snow accumulation, bad weather, and damaged roads are making things difficult for BRO’s Project Himank to clear the Manali – Sarchu Highway of snow and restore road connectivity to Ladakh.

BRO had originally set a target of 25th May, for the Manali – Leh Highway to be reopened this year. While Project Deepak, responsible for clearing the Leh – Sarchu stretch has managed to clear the highway of snow till Sarchu.

Project Himank, which is responsible for clearing Manali – Sarchu stretch, has managed to clear the road till Baralacha La and is now working hard to reach Killing Sarai.

BRO is confident of clearing the stretch within a week and after a couple of days of maintenance work, they expect to officially reopen the Manali – Leh Highway for vehicular traffic.

Speaking to the media, Lt. Colonel Vijay Kumar, BRO, said, “We have moved beyond mighty Baralacha Pass. We have now dealt with all difficulties. We hope to reach Keling Sarai in a day or two. Snow will be cleared till Sarchu within a week. We then need two-three more days for minor maintenance before allowing vehicular traffic on this road.”

All those heading to Manali can now breathe a sigh of relief, you can now travel to Rohtang Pass and see and play in the snow.

Until now, tourists were only allowed to go till Marhi and beyond that, only locals could travel.

However, now that a 200 car parking lot has been constructed amidst snow at Rohtang Pass. District Administration feels, it is time to let the tourists travel up to Rohtang.

Each day 1,200 vehicles (800 petrol and 400 diesel) will be allowed to go up to Rohtang Pass for tourism. Additional 800 vehicles will be allowed to cross Rohtang Pass in order to travel to Lahaul, Pangi, Spiti and Ladakh.

Permit for both is available online at http://admis.hp.nic.in/ngtkullu and since there is a lot of demand for a permit to travel up to Rohtang Pass and a limited number of permits each day, half the permit will be issued online between 12 pm to 3 pm and rest between 5 pm to 12 am.

For those wondering about the status of Manali – Leh Highway, the highway is closed as of now. However, it is expected to reopen fairly soon with the last stretch of the highway being cleared of snow at Baralacha La.

Intially road conditions will be fairly poor, so all those planning to head to Ladakh, please plan accordingly.

Despite higher than normal snow accumulation this year, efforts are in full swing to reopen the Manali – Leh Highway on time. And now BRO believes, they will be able to reopen the Manali – Leh Highway by the 25th of May 2017.

Last year the Manali – Leh Highway had reopened on the 22nd of May.

BRO team is currently working on clearing the road to Baralacha La from Manali side and has managed to reach the army base of Patseo. Even though distance between Patseo and Baralacha La is mere 30 km, it will likely take 3 weeks for the BRO to clear the road and widen it enough for vehicular traffic.

Baralacha La is the last pass to reopen on the Manali – Leh Highway and is also the toughest pass to reopen for BRO thanks to the heavy blanket of snow that covers it during winter.

Just like in the case of the Rohtang Pass, two BRO teams work on clearing the Baralacha La, one working from Manali side and another from Sarchu side.

There is no word yet on the progress of the BRO team, which sets up its base in Sarchu, after clearing Lachulung La and Nakee La.

Apart from Baralacha La and the road connecting it to Sarchu, 17,480 ft Tanglang La remain the primary challenge for the BRO to reopen Manali – Leh highway for vehicular traffic.

BRO teams from Manali and Kokhsar have managed to clear the road till Rohtang Pass and have met at the top of the pass.

If the weather remains favorable and the road is stable, BRO is hopeful of reopening the Rohtang Pass for local vehicular traffic in a couple of days.

This would be great news for the locals, who at the moment are forced to cross the pass on foot, risking life and limb while doing so.

However, reopening of Rohtang Pass for tourist traffic till Rohtang and beyond would take a lot longer. Since BRO not only has to widen the road and make it stable enough. It also has to clear enough snow at the top of the pass to make a parking lot for the vehicles traveling from Manali to Rohtang.

All this work is expected to take a week or two, and in the meanwhile, BRO could reopen Marhi for tourist traffic.

Work is also on to clear Baralacha La of snow and it is expected to be cleared of snow by the third or last week of May.

Baralacha La is generally the last pass to open on the Manali – Leh Highway and once it is open, the route is reopened for vehicular traffic.

BRO is hopeful of clearing the road to Rohtang Pass by tomorrow (21st April 2017).

Having cleared the Rani Nallah glacier point, BRO team from Manali side is just a couple of kilometers before the pass and is hopeful of reaching there tomorrow.

Even though this is a welcome news for everyone involved and BRO deserves a pat on the back for doing this arduous task.

The reality is, it will still take more than a week or two for the vehicular traffic and in particular, tourist traffic to be allowed to reach Rohtang Pass. Until then, BRO would not only be working to ensure the road remains open, but also to widen the road sufficiently and check for the stability of the road, before allowing tourists through.

BRO also needs to clear enough snow to make a parking lot for tourist vehicles visiting the high altitude pass.

Locals though will be allowed through much before that. Since they desperately need to access medical and other facilities on this side of Rohtang Pass.

Manali – Leh Highway is expected to reopen by May end or in the first week of June and work to clear Baralacha La has only just recently begun.