ROHTANG PASS THROWN OPEN TO TRAFFIC

: The Border Road Organisation (BRO) on Sunday threw open the 13050 feet high Rohtang Pass — gateway to Lahaul and Spiti — for traffic ahead of polling in Himachal Pradesh on Sunday. The pass, which connects tourist town of Manali in Himachal Pradesh to Ladakh, was under snow since December last year.

“The Rohtang Pass was thrown open for traffic at about 7 am. It will not only help tourists but also facilitate movement of voters,” said a BRO official, requesting anonymity.

Majority of the population in Lahaul and Spiti migrates to different places in Kullu district during the harsh winters and return home in summer months.

“This year, it has been a tough task as snow clearance teams encountered 30-40 feet of snow at Beas nullah, Rani nullah and the area around Rohtang Pass. The teams also encountered a lot of avalanches en route,” said BRO officials.

The BRO had deployed two teams from Koksar and Marhi to clear the snow. “Both the teams worked day in and day out to complete the mammoth task in a time-bound manner,” said BRO officials. The BRO had earlier set May 10 deadline to restore the highway but intermittent snowfall hampered the road restoration work.

“The election commission had earlier sought permission from the defence ministry to allow movement of voters through the under-construction tunnel at Rohtang.

Nearly 1,000 voters, hailing from Lahaul and Spiti, were given access through the tunnel in the last three days.

The election commission had moved men and voting machines through choppers and tunnel.

THE PASS, WHICH CONNECTS MANALI TO LADAKH, WAS UNDER SNOW SINCE DECEMBER LAST YEAR