The Kargil and Dras districts have a total population of 1.88 lakh and many of them earn their livelihood through trade and commerce which begins only after the opening of this pass.
The Pass remained closed for only 68 days this year, as compared to 73 days last year and 160-180 days in the past.
Restoring connectivity to Ladakh and Gureiz valley, the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) has opened the strategic Zojila and Razdan passes on the Himalayan range on 15 March to enable the movement of civil and military vehicles.
Zojila Pass, also known as “The Mountain Pass of Blizzards” is located on the Srinagar-Kargil-Leh road (NH-1) at a height of 11,650 ft in the Dras subdivision.
The pass connects the Kashmir Valley to its west with the Dras and Suru valleys to its Northeast and the Indus valley further East.
NH-1 between Srinagar and Leh in the western section of the Himalayan mountain range, traverses the pass and provides a vital strategic link between Kashmir Valley and Ladakh region.
This pass traditionally was closed by October/November every year and was re-opened only by April/May in the past, with the total closure time averaging almost five to six months.
With renewed focus on infrastructure development, necessary augmentation of connectivity and required logistics support to the Army deployed along Northern borders, there has been a strategic requirement of minimising the closure of Zojila Pass during winters.
BRO accordingly ensured that the Zojila Pass was kept open for traffic till as late as 6 January 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 of November 2022 and 6 January 2023.
Despite a spell of severe winter which has 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 February 2023, snow clearance teams were deployed into immediate action by Project Beacon and Project Vijayak, from Sonamarg and Drass ends of Zojila.
After sustained and relentless efforts, initial connectivity across Zojila Pass was established on 11 March 2023.
Improvement and widening of the road surface has been carried out since then to facilitate safe passage of vehicles.
Trial convoys of vehicles will pass through the Zojila on 16 March thereby, ensuring that the Pass remains closed for only 68 days this year, as compared to 73 days last year and 160-180 days in the past.
Likewise, Razdan Pass which provides the only road connectivity between the Gurez Sector and the Kashmir Valley has also been prepared for opening on 16 March this year, 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.
The opening of Zojila and Razdan Passes is an important event for BRO and their early opening and consequently, the opening of the road axis, enables movement of both civil and military convoys.
The opening of Zojila results in the induction of logistics supplies for our forces and locals and thus has significant economic benefits as well.
The Kargil and Dras districts have a total population of 1.88 lakh and many of them earn their livelihood through trade and commerce which begins only after the opening of this pass.
This is the main reason that the opening of this pass is celebrated like a festival and large numbers of people from both Leh and Kargil districts reach Zojila every year to pray to the weather gods for their blessings throughout the year and also to thank BRO for opening of the Pass.
For the BRO, early opening of this axis accrues several benefits as it facilitates early supply of important construction materials required for preparation of strategic road infra projects in Ladakh and adjoining areas which will assist us in achieving targets planned for the year.
Early opening of the Zojila and Razdan Passes will also facilitate the augmentation of supply of essential goods and services for the people of Ladakh and GurezValley.
On this occasion, the BRO director general (DG) reiterated his organisation’s commitment towards nation building and service to the people.
The DG said that the trial movement of vehicles has been conducted successfully on Wednesday (15 March) 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 once again risen to the challenge and lived to its ethos of “We will either find a way or make one”.