BRO is working hard to reopen the Manali – Leh Highway this year (2017) as soon as possible and is hopeful that it would be able to reopen Rohtang Pass by last week of April and Manali – Leh Highway by end of May.

The first crucial step of reopening Manali – Leh Highway is to reopen Rohtang Pass for vehicular traffic. Since Rohtang Pass is not only a crucial pass for people heading to Leh, but also for those traveling to Lahaul, Spiti and Pangi Valleys.

Two BRO teams are currently working to reopen the Rohtang Jot (known in the local language as a heap of dead bodies).

Manali team has managed to reach Rani Nallah glacier point, which is one of the hardest stretches to open due to the amount of snow and presence of the glacier. Once the team is able to clear this point, clearing rest of the highway till Rohtang Pass would be comparatively easy.

BRO team from Keylong has managed to reach Gramphu, where the road bifurcates into two highways, one leading to Leh and another to Kunzum Pass and Kaza. Clearance of the stretch between Gramphu and Rohtang Pass is difficult as well due to bad terrain and high accumulation of snow.

While the weather over the next month is going to be the most crucial factor in determining whether or not BRO is able to clear the highway on time. A lot of variables are at play at the moment and for those planning a trip to Ladakh, it is best to plan one in June.

As per the order issued by National Green Tribunal, driving to or beyond Rohtang Pass requires a permit from the SDM Office in Manali.

Until last year, if you wanted to travel to Rohtang Pass for sightseeing, you could apply for the permit online. However, if you wanted to travel beyond Rohtang and explore Ladakh, Lahaul, Spiti or Pangi, you had to procure the permit from the SDM Office in Manali.

This was a regressive policy, since the permit for up to Rohtang Pass were issued only to Himachal Vehicles (mostly Manali taxis) and was limited to certain amount of vehicles per day (400 diesel and 800 petrol vehicles this year).

Travelers heading to Ladakh and other places beyond Rohtang had to either get the permit made in advance through a travel agent or spend precious time getting the permit made in Manali.

This year though, this would no longer be the case.

With the ease of getting the permit made online, travelers can plan their trips without having to allocate time for permit procurement process in Manali and can start off early in the morning to reach their destination comfortably and without getting stuck in traffic snarls.

A word of caution for those who own a vehicle which is 10 years or older, you won’t be allowed to cross Rohtang from the Manali side, due to NGT guidelines. You can however, cross from the other side i.e. you can cross Rohtang when you’re coming back from Leh.

BRO has started work to clear the snowbound Manali – Leh Highway of snow, in order to reopen it for 2017.

Thanks to heavier than usual snowfall in Himachal Pradesh and Ladakh, work to clear the Manali – Leh Highway of snow had been delayed by 20 days. Normally this snow clearing operation begins by 1st of March.

So far, BRO has managed to clear the road from Manali to Gulaba and from Sissu to Darcha.

In the next phase, BRO would be attempting to clear the road from Gulaba to Marhi and from Koksar to Sissu. While work to clear Baralacha La from Leh side would begin a little later on.

This year, Manali – Leh Highway s expected to open a little late, though hopefully, it should reopen by the first week of June, if the weather remains clear.

2017 is likely going to prove quite challenging to BRO, tasked with reopening of the crucial Manali – Leh Highway. This is due to record amount of snowfall occurring in Himachal and Ladakh, which has led to higher than normal snow accumulation on the highway.

Nevertheless, BRO (Border Roads Organization) is planning to do its best to reopen the highway, as soon as possible. In a statement issued today, BRO commander, Colonel Arvind Awasthi said, “Though it depends on weather conditions, we target to officially start the snow clearing operation from Manali-Leh highway till Sarchu from March 1.”

However, all this depends on the weather remaining favorable and due to the risks involved in clearing the highway under several feet of snow, BRO is in constant touch with Snow and Avalanche Study Establishment (SASE).

If there is high chance of avalanche or snowfall, then BRO is likely to delay its operations. Because avalanches and heavy snowfall can not only cover the already cleared road and block it, it can also lead to casualties of BRO workers and officials involved in the clearing operations.

Despite of heavy snowfall, BRO has managed to keep most of Lahaul Valley connected internally by road and is now planning to reconnect Udaipur with rest of Lahaul. For this purpose they have even flown in their personnel to Udaipur and Stingri.

Rahni Nullah, Beas Nullah, Chumbak Mor, Rakshi Dhank and the road leading to Baralacha La will prove the most challenging to BRO. And while Rohtang Pass is expected to reopen comparatively early, reopening of the highway till Leh will take longer, thanks to higher snow accumulation at Baralacha La pass.

BRO on Thursday began their snow clearing operation on Srinagar – Leh Highway, which has been delayed by over couple of weeks this year due to heavy snowfall.

However, BRO is planning to clear the snow from this crucial highway to Ladakh by end-May and reopen the route for vehicular traffic by June 2015.

While two teams have started working from either side of Rohtang Pass to carve out a road through 30ft of snow, other teams from BRO are expected to soon start their work on clearing Baralacha La and Tanglang La, which too are buried under heavy snow.

While Rohtang Pass is expected to reopen by May and would provide much needed relief to the residents of Lahaul and Pangi Valleys, the major stumbling block for BRO would be Baralacha La, which receives heavier snowfall than Rohtang Pass and is more difficult to clear.

We will keep posting regular updates on the condition and status of Manali – Leh Highway, so make sure to subscribe to our free email updates to get receive latest information on Ladakh.