Zojila: Widening work starts at challenging Captain Mord for smooth traffic to Ladakh

SRINAGAR: To enhance connectivity of Ladakh region with the rest of the country on the National Highway 1 in the Himalayan mountain range, the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) has started widening work of Zojila Upper Alignment near Captain Mord.
"We are doing the formation work on the upper alignment of Zojila Pass. There are couples of choke points which we are addressing in a methodological manner for the smooth flow of traffic," said BRO Engineer In-charge Zojila, Captain Niraj Kumar Singh.
Singh said the most critical among them is the hard rock portion of Zojila above Captain Mord, which is 400mtr long with fragmented rock strata, not witnessed in any other road alignments in the state posing a huge challenge in the road formation and the freezing on the surface takes place as soon as the temperature goes down.
Zojila Pass is the gateway to Ladakh region and serves its lifeline. Traversing through the highest altitude in Central Kashmir's Sonamarg, Zojila's road widening, construction and maintenance is most arduous and cumbersome exercise for the BRO.
BRO works against all odds to keep the road stretch at the altitude of 11, 649 ft as the Pass, the second highest after Fotu La on the Srinagar-Leh highway, is an important link between Ladakh and rest of the world.
The rocks in mountains along which the road is constructed are most difficult and have different geological composition. And with chilling winds and falling boulders complicating the working environment, BRO uses modern machinery and scientific technique to cut the rocks to widen the road.
Since the rock profile of the Zojila Mountains varies from soft to brittle hard, the road formation work is done methodically and after proper scientific study.
"After analyzing the rock structure (dip and strike), we carry out the formation work accordingly. We are using remote controlled Rock Drilling Machine for the drilling of holes for subsequent blasting. With the help of it we are able to achieve good drill pattern for the blast. We try our best to obtain maximum rock fragmentation and minimum fly rocks."
At the peak of the winter season, it becomes inaccessible but the BRO works to maintain the keep the traffic moving for most part of the year. Zojila Pass remains closed for around 4 months due to heavy snowfall and avalanches in the region, and maintaining it for a smooth traffic flow becomes a challenging and daunting task for BRO.
The highway sees a daily rush of hundreds of heavy truckloads, passengers light vehicles and lot of tourists travelling to and from the Ladakh region.
"We have intimated both civil administration and traffic police regarding our work and its timing i.e. 1400hrs to 1700hrs. All safety measures are taken to avoid any kind of eventuality," Singh added.
In the last one year, a lot of work has taken place on Zojila starting from widening to improved riding surface, the BRO officials said, adding, the efforts of Team 122RCC of BRO are highly commendable as
working in such a harsh condition is very difficult.
"The entire formation work is being done under the supervision of Col Amit Chander, Commander 32 BRTF. His continuous monitoring, regular visits to the site and direction has enhanced our work," he added.