India reopens strategic passes in Jammu and Kashmir ahead of usual schedule

India's Border Roads Organisation opened the crucial Zojila and Razdan passes on March 16,months after being disconnected from the rest of the world due to heavy snowfall in Kashmir valley. The seasonal passes, this year, openedmuch before their usual time of opening.

Zojila Pass is located on the Srinagar-Kargil-Leh road (NH-1), over 900 km north of New Delhi, at a height of 11,650 feet. The pass provides a vital strategic link between Kashmir Valley and Ladakh region. It closes by October, November every year and re-opens by April-May with the total closure time averaging to almost five to six months.

With the renewed focus on infrastructure development and augmentation of connectivity to India's Northern borders and de-facto international boundariesin recent years, India has sensed a strategic requirement of minimising the closure of Zojila Pass during winters.

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''Border Road Organisation accordingly ensured that the Zojila Pass was kept open for traffic till as late as 06 Jan 2023 this year, thereby creating a new historic precedent of its kind. The advantage which accrued by keeping Zojila open till this late can be assessed by the fact that almost 13,500 vehicles crossed the Pass between end Nov 2022 and 06 Jan 2023,'' said Public Relations Office (PRO), Defence, Srinagar, in an official statement.

Despite a spell of severe winter during which the union territory ofJammu and Kashmir witnessed the highest snowfall in the last five years, BRO rose to the challenge and initiated various measures to ensure early opening of the Zojila Pass.

Finding a clear window of dry weather in the first week of Feb 2023, snow clearance teams were pushed into immediate action by Project Beacon and Project Vijayak from Sonmarg and Dras ends of Zojila. After sustained and relentless efforts, initial connectivity across Zojila Pass was established on 11 Mar 2023. Improvement and widening of the road surface have been carried out since then to facilitate safe passage of vehicles.

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''Trial convoys of vehicles have been successfully passed through the Zojila on 16 Mar 2023, thereby ensuring that the Pass remained closed for only 68 days this year as compared to 73 days last year and 160-180 days in the yesteryears,'' the PRO Defence Srinagar added.

Likewise, Razdan Pass which provides the only road connectivity between the Gurez Sector and the Kashmir Valley, has also been successfully reopened on March 16 after a gap of just 58 days. Other important passes at Sadhna, Pharkiyan Gali and Zamindar Gali have been kept open throughout this winter season.

Speaking on the occasion, Lt Gen Rajeev Chaudhry, Director General of Border Roads,commended the Karmayogis of Project Beacon and Project Vijayak in achieving this feat.

Early opening of the Zojila and Razdan Passes will facilitate augmentation of supply of essential goods and services for people of Ladakh and Gurez Valley.

''BRO’s commitment towards nation building and service to the people.The trial movement of vehicles has been conducted successfully today and the decision to open the road for civil traffic will be taken by the Civil Administration after the conduct of joint inspection. The BRO has again risen to the challenge and lived to its ethos of “We Will Either Find A Way or Make One”, said Lt Gen Rajeev Chaudhry, DGBR.

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