The lifeline to the remote valley of Ladakh and Lahaul-Spiti of Himachal Pradesh, the Rohtang pass near Manali was opened on Saturday for summer traffic. The snowbound Rohtang pass opened three weeks in advance to fulfilling the supplies of essential items and relief aids to Lahaul and Spiti districts of Himachal Pradesh amid the lockdown due to coronavirus outbreak. Honorable Agriculture Minister of Himachal Pradesh, “Dr. Ram Lal Markanda, led the first convoy of vehicles which are carrying the essential supplies and 150 farmers entered to the Lahaul valley, bringing relief among locals.
Situated at 13,050ft height on the eastern Pir Panjal Range of the Himalayas, Rohtang Pass opens around May after a six-month closure starting from Mid-November. During this duration, Lahaul and Spiti districts remain isolated from the rest of the world. They highly dependent on air maintenance to fulfill the supplies of essentials during winters.
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Snow clearing at #RohtangPass . Opens 3 weeks earlier for #LahaulValley #SpitiValley residents amid #Lockdown21 . #CoronavirusIndia pic.twitter.com/jS9RFaLiAI
— STELLA (@BrownKhaleesi) April 25, 2020
Himachal Government reached BRO on April 11 to seek quicker clearance of the Pass to facilitate the farmers to start cultivation which is the backbone of the valley and to increase the movement of essentials and medicines to the Lahaul Valley in the wake of COVID-19.
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BRO initiated the use of Hi-tech machinery from both ends of the pass to boost the snow clearance process. Due to snowstorms, freezing atmosphere and sudden avalanches at Rahala Fall, Beas Nallah and Rani Nallah the clearance work delayed a little bit, but all the teams working relentlessly in the full swing to providing relief to locals with all the COVID-19 precautions.
With the hope that all the things will become normal soon, we wish that the locals of the remote villages of Lahaul and Spiti Valley will keep getting all essential items as per their requirements.
Blog By : Shubham Jain