9/9/2014 ZojilaPass

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ZojilaPass
TheZozilaorZojilaPassisoneoftheimportantmountainpassesinIndia.ThepassliesamidLehinthe
WesternHimalayanMountainRangesandSrinagar,ontheIndianNationalHighway1D.Inotherwords,
itconnectsLehandSrinagar.
InspiteofthefactthatitiscommonlymentionedasZojilaPassintheworldwidepress,theprecise
EnglishadaptationisZojiPassorjustZojilabecausethesuffixLarepresentspassindifferent
languagestalkedintheHimalayanterritory.InpresentdaylanguagesinNorthIndia,LaandDarra
arebothimplementedinterchangeablytosignifypass.
Thecoordinatesofthepassare341644Northand752819East.
AboutZojilaPass
FromSonamarginJammuandKashmir,thedistanceofZojiLaPassis9km(5.6mi).Thepass
functionsasamajorlinkbetweenLadakhandKashmir.Thepassissituatedataheightofabout11,575ft
(3,528meters).TheZojilaPassranksasthesecondhighestpassinIndiasubsequenttoFotuLaPass
situatedontheNationalHighwaybetweenSrinagarandLeh.
Thepassusuallystaysclosedduringthewintermonths,howevertheBorderRoadsOrganization(BRO)
isoperatingtoboosttrafficforthegreaterpartoftheyear.TheBeaconForcedivisionoftheBorder
RoadsOrganizationisresponsibleofremovalofsnowandpreservationofthepathduringwintermonths.
WhentheIndiaPakistanWartookplacein1947,theZojilaPasswascapturedbyPakistaniaggressorsin
1948intheirobjectivetotakeoverLadakh.Indiangroundforcesgainedcontrolofthepasson
November1inavaliantinfantrystrike.ThecodenameoftheoperationwasOperationBison,whichwas
triumphantprincipallyasaconsequenceoftheunexpecteduseofarmor,thenthemaximumelevationat
whicharmorswereusedinarmedconflictintheworld.
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TheZozilaPassisfrequentlynamedastheentrancetoLadakhinJammuandKashmir.Lyingatan
elevationof3,528meters,thepassissituatedintheprincipalHimalayanMountainRangeonthe
SrinagarLehHighwayorNationalHighway1D.TheZozilaPassisconsideredasoneoftheriskiest
passesinthisarea.
ZojilaPasshasaremarkableposition,borderedbytheKashmirbasinononesideandDrassbasinonthe
otherside.Itoverlookssnowcoveredsummitsanddensestripofjungles.Thepassremainsclosedhalf
oftheyearbecauseofintensesnowfallandopensinthelatterpartofthespringseason.
TullaKhan:TheunsungchampionofZojilaPass
Removingthesnowduringwinterseasontofindthewayisnotasimplejob.However,TullaKhan,
workingwithBRO(BorderRoadsOrganization)removesthesnowoftheZozilaPasshimself,without
takinganybodyshelp.Thisisinspiteofthefactthatheisdeafanddumb.Nevertheless,peoplestill
havetorecognizetheendeavorsofthisunsungchampion.
TullaKhanisthebulldozerdriverofthesnowremovinggrouponZozilaMountains.TheSrinagarLeh
NationalHighway1D,whichstretchesforabout434km,traversesthe11,575fttallZozilaPass.
Duringthewintermonths,becauseofsevererainfall,thehighwaybecomesclogged.Asaconsequence,
approximately2.7lakhinhabitants,survivinginthecoldbarrenregionsofLadakh,getdisconnected
fromtheremainderoftheworldforaperiodofapproximatelysixmonths.
Thedeepnessofsnowatareasofthemountainis50feetandremovingsnowfromthisregionofhilly
highwayisadifficultjob.Beneath50feetofsnow,markingouttheconfigurationofthepathisthetask,
whichTullaKhanistheonlyonetoperform.Hemaybedeafanddumbbuthastheuniquesensethatno
oneelsehas.TheBorderRoadsOrganizationispleasedtohaveanemployeelikeTullaKhan.Heis
knowntothemasthepathtracersincehecompensatesforthelackofstateofthearttechnicalgadgets.
ThechiefengineerofProjectBeaconofBorderRoadsOrganization,Mr.A.K.Bhutani,statedthattheir
snowremovalprocessisreliantonTullaKhan.Themanhasgodgiftedskillstomarktheroad
configurationonZozilaPass.Whentherearenomoderndevices,heisaresourcefortheBorderRoads
OrganizationandfortheinhabitantsofLadakh,hestated.
However,thepopulationofLadakhbarelyhasanyideathatifTullaKhanisnotthere,openingofthe
ZozilaPasswillbequitechallenging.Forthelast21years,TullaKhanhasbeenemployedwiththe
BorderRoadsOrganizationintheformofacasuallypaidworker.Forthelast14years,hehasbeen
doingtheworkofwaymarkingandheisjustgettingRs.3,500forthis.Theamountistoosmallforthis
work,whichnooneelseisreadytocarryout.
ThereisnodoubtthatitistheuphillstruggleoftheseunsungchampionslikeTullaKhanoftheBorder
RoadsOrganizationthatmakessnowremovalactivitiesinZojilaPassareality.Theyneedtocombat
highspeedbreezes,freezingtemperature,andrisksoflandslideduringtheirwork.
ThecommandingofficerofBorderRoadsOrganization,Mr.VikramPahoja,statedthattheyneedto
workinfreezingtemperaturesandtacklehighspeedbreezes.Itisquitehardtofunctioninthisplace.The
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humanstaminaandcompetenceislow.Thereisriskoflandslidesanditisquitedangerous.
TheBorderRoadsOrganizationtakestwomonthstocleantheNationalHighwayintheZozilaPassArea.
Oncertainoccasions,theycompletetheirjobbeforetime.Aridclimatemakestheirworksimple,dueto
whichthehighwayopensearlierthanexpected.
ItisduetothedoggedendeavorsoftheunsungchampionsofBorderRoadsOrganizationlikeTulla
KhanthatLadakhstayslinkedwiththeotherpartsofthenation,sometimesforanadditionalperiod.
WhentheZozilaPassopens,largenumbersoftruckscarryrationsfortheLadakharea.
TheChiefEngineerofBorderRoadsOrganization,BrigadierAshokKumarBhutanistatedthatnormally
theyareaccustomedtowaitforsummertoarrivetoremovethesnowonthepass.However,oncertain
occasions,theyemploytheirpersonnelonthetaskforthewholedurationofwinter.Theydonthang
aroundforsummertoarrivebutcleanthesnowroundthewinter,hementioned.
SignificanceofZojilaPass
WhentheSrinagarLehNationalHighwayiskeptopen,itindicatesthattravelersallaroundthestateof
JammuandKashmircanarriveatLadakh.Thiswillnotonlyofferadditionaltimeforthetravelerstoget
pleasurefrombutalsowillcontributetotheeconomyoftheLadakhArea.
EventhewayuptothewellknowntouristdestinationofSonamargbasinstaysopenduringthewinter
monthswhentheBROpersonnelcleanthesnowfromthewayprettyquickly,BrigadierBhutanifurther
mentioned.
InspiteofthefactthatKashmirbasingetsreducedsnowfalloncertainoccasions,butZojilaPass
experiencessignificantsnowfallandthisisaregularfeatureofthearea.StilltheBorderRoads
OrganizationcanremovethesnowfromtheSrinagarLehNationalHighway.
ZojilaPassontheimportantSrinagarLehNationalHighway(spanis434km)wasofficiallyopenedto
trafficmovementsbyLieutenantGeneralJRMukherjee,GOC15Corps.TheBeaconForceDivisionof
theBorderRoadsOrganization(BRO)isinchargeforthecleaningandupkeepoftheNationalHighway
betweenSrinagarandLehanditsbiggestimpediment,Zojila,ataheightof3,528meters,which
paradoxicallyisthelowestdrivablepassontheGreatHimalayanMountainRange.
Zojilawitnessesviolentbreezesbecauseoftheconicalshapeandseveresnowfall.Tilldate,over60risky
landslidespotshavebeenfoundonthisroute.Inaddition,Beaconpeopleworkforceshavetofaceand
withstandsnowstorms,fierceaircurrents,coldandhighlydangerouscircumstancesasintheKargil
division.Inspiteofthesecircumstances,itisthethevaliantjawansofBorderRoadOrganization,aided
by120nonmilitarycitizenswhotoiledassiduouslyforopeningthepassinahistoricaltime.
TakingintoconsiderationtherealitythatbytheendofApril,majorityofprovisionsinLadakhdiminish
tosustainablephases,thisopeningwillturnouttobeablessingtoallpeopleinLadakh.Ladakhstays
disconnectedfromtheotherpartsofthenationfromNovemberandafterwardswhenallpasseslinkingit
overtheHimalayanMountainRangesarecloggedbyseveresnowfall.Theopeningoffersamore
excitingandinexpensivegrounditinerarytotravelerstodiscoverLadakhandupperpartsofKashmir.
Theaveragesnowbuilduponthe3,528meterstalland6.25kmlongrockyterritoryofZojilaPass
normallystaysinthelevelof15to30metersthroughoutthewinterseasonbetweenNovemberandMay.
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TheSrinagarSonamargZojilaKargilLehpathwasaffirmedasNationalHighwayonMarch30,2006.It
worksasanentrancetoLadakhareaandistacticallycrucial,otherthanhelpingforsocioeconomic
progressofLadakharea.
TheZozilaPassisapproximately13,000feetaboveseasurface,at34.17latitudeand74.50longitude.
ThepasslinksabasinofKashmirwithLadakh.VarioustradeitinerariestakemerchantstoChina,Tibet,
andCentralAsia.RenchenShahofLehmovedintoKashmirviathispassandwastherulerofthe
territoryinthe14thcentury.MirzaHaiderDoughlatalsomarchedonthroughthispasstoraidKashmir.
ThepreviousnameofthepasswasShurjiLa,whichstandsforthemountainofLordShiva.
ZozilaPassSubwayishighontheagenda
TheinhabitantsofKargilareclaimingthecreationofasubwaythroughthepassinordertoremain
linkedtoLehroundtheyear.KargilislinkedtotheKashmirBasinviatheSrinagarDrasshighwayand
witnessesseveresnowfallfromNovembertoMarchandstaysblockedforhalfoftheyear.Asubwayat
ZozilaandZMorgh,whichisahighwaybetweenSrinagarandLehspanning434km,willholdtheway
opentocartrafficbetweenareasofKashmirandLadakhroundtheyear.
LastUpdatedon02February2011
MountainPassesofIndia
BolanPass
KhbarPass
GomalPass
ShipkiPass
KarakoramPass
ZojilaPass
MountainsofIndia
Himalayas
Kanchenjunga
MountEverest
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