Gyal P Wangyal, CEC, Hill Council Leh reviewed the status of snow clearance work carried out at 473 km Manali-Leh road on May 12.

The meeting was attended by Executive Councillors of Hill Council Leh; Sachin Kumar, DC, Leh; Brig Arvinder Singh, Chief Engineer, Project HIMANK; Col Abishek Khanna, CDR 753 BRTF; Sonam Dechen, SP Traffic, Ladakh, Suresh Kumar Chib, Additional SP Leh and Zakir Hussain, OSD to Divisional Commissioner, Ladakh.  

Gyal P Wangyal said that the opening of Manali-Leh road at the earliest is very important to reduce the load of traffic flow on Srinagar –Leh road to speed up the evacuation process. 

He said that there are passengers including pilgrims and students stranded in Himachal Pradesh and moreover many passengers prefer Manali-Leh route to reach Leh. He stressed for the early opening of the road.
 
Brig Arvinder Singh, Chief Engineer Project HIMANK briefed that Project HIMANK CDR 753 BRTF reached Sarchu on March 28 from Leh side and now proceeding towards Baralacha pass which is under Project Deepak on Manali side. He said that the snow clearance work on remaining 7 km stretch of road between Baralacha and Sarchu is being executed from both sides and if the weather remains good, the Manali-Leh road is expected to be thrown open for traffic between May 20-25. 

He further informed that last year Manali-Leh road was opened for traffic on June 18.

Discussing the movement of traffic on Srinagar –Leh road, Gyal P Wangyal directed SP Traffic Ladakh to modify and advertise traffic timings systematically so that passengers could commute as per the timings.   

Police were asked to provide additional escort vehicles at Minamarg to speed up the flow of traffic towards Leh. Also, he directed police to don’t stop Leh bound buses at Minamarg as screening for Leh passengers is arranged at Khaltse.