The government has finally approved the construction of an alternative route to Leh, via Manali. Six years after the traditional Srinagar-Leh route 1A was hit by Pakistani shelling during the Kargil conflict, the Centre today sanctioned Rs 943.32 crore for the project, to be completed in nine years. ‘‘The all-weather 292 km route via Darchu, Padam and Nimu will be constructed at a total cost of Rs 1,355 crore, including an 8.8 km long tunnel under the Rohtang Pass,’’ Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee said after a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security. Both approaches to the tunnel will be two-laned at a cost of Rs 180 crore. The Army’s Border Roads Organisation has already constructed a motorable pathway between Manali and Leh, though the route is shut down for much of the year because of heavy snowfall on the Rohtang Pass. The stretch of the road via Darchu in Keylong district of Himachal Pradesh and Padam, the capital of Zanskar region, and Nimu on the outskirts of Leh would be laid at a cost of Rs 286.85 crore.
