With onset of winters and snow accumulation the highway remains closed from November till it is opened by the BRO.
The entire snow clearance operation was executed by 111 RCC/753 BRTF under Project HIMANK of BRO, in Ladakh region and 70 RCC/38 BRTF under Project Deepak in Himachal Pradesh.
This challenging operation commenced from two extremities by two different Snow Clearance Teams, working simultaneously and in sync, comprising of highly skilled manpower and state-of-the-art machines, Project Deepak undertook the operation from Manali to Sarchu (Border of Ladakh and Himachal) and Project Himank clearing the highway from Leh to Sarchu.
The Teams worked in extremely challenging conditions battling snow storms and treacherous weather conditions of High-Altitude Areas, clearing the National Highway and negotiating four important passes including the Baralacha La (15910 ft), Nakee La (15547 ft), Lachung La (16616 ft) and Tanglang La (17482 ft).
As the two snow clearance teams converge to Sarchu, which is also the interproject boundaries, a ‘Golden Handshake’ ceremony was organized on 23 Apr 2024,in presence of Officials of Chief Engineer Project Himank, Chief Engineer Project Deepak, Civil Administration and Local Populace.
The ribbon was cut by a local kid and the road was declared open for traffic. The ceremony was graced by Col Amit Sakhre of Proj Himank, Col KS Lavana (Commander 753 Task Force), Gulam Md (ADC Leh ) and other Officials of security forces and civil administration of Ladakh.
Chief Engineer Project Deepak Shri Navin Kumar, Commander 38 Task Force, Mayank Chaudhary (SP LahaulSpiti) and other officials of BRO and Civil Administration from Himachal Pradesh were also present for the ceremony. The endeavours of BRO have been highly appreciated by Security Forces, Civil Administration and most importantly by the Local Populace using the National Highway.
The Nation owes to the grit, courage and sacrifice of the unsung and mostly unknown heroes of BRO, who perform daredevil acts day after day, with unyielding faith in their machines, unwavering trust in each other and a silent prayer on their lips. They seek no more than a pat on the back for a job well done. Under the able guidance of DGBR, Lt Gen Raghu Srinivasan, VSM and ADGBR(NW) Sh Harendra Kumar, AVSM, VSM, both the projects of BRO have again demonstrated its commitment of Nation First, Always First and lived up to its ethos of ” Sharmena Sarvam Sadhyam”.
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