Snow-bound Rohtang Pass may re-open soon

The snow clearing has been going on for the past five days, S.K. Doon of the General Reserve Engineering Force (GREF), a government agency that maintains the Manali-Leh highway that passes through Rohtang Pass, told reporters. The Rohtang Pass was under three to four feet snow since Nov 9.

"Teams have been deployed on both sides of the Rohtang Pass to clear the snow so that road connectivity to the Lahaul valley (in Lahaul and Spiti district) could be restored as early as possible," he said. "If weather permits, the pass would be reopened in the next one or two days," he added. The GREF is a wing of the Border Roads Organisation. It maintains the 475-km Manali-Leh National Highway-21, which plays an important role in the movement of the armed forces to the forward areas in Ladakh.