BRO develops Project Yojak in Himachal Pradesh to boost road infra

The Border Roads Organisation (BRO), an organisation under the Ministry of Defence, has established a new project called Yojak to speed up border road infrastructure projects, particularly boosting access to Ladakh. The project's major goal will be to construct more tunnels, similar to the Atal Tunnel, as well as to maintain the connecting roadways.

Yojak will be in charge of not only creating high-altitude traffic tunnels along the Manali-Ladakh axis but also acquiring and maintaining key roadways with a length of up to 500 km. Yojak, according to a BRO official, will be a large project involving many road construction companies. Some routes, particularly those connecting Shinku Pass, will be given over to Yojak.

The project's current headquarters are in Manali, however, it is anticipated that they will be relocated to Lahaul soon.

Yojak, according to Prasad, will ensure that roads to the Shinkula tunnel remain open in all weather situations, keeping Ladakh connected to Himachal even during the winter season. More tunnels on the Manali-Leh route will be built under Project Yojak, using the knowledge of the Atal tunnel.

In India, BRO manages 18 projects. BRO's Project Deepak, which manages the Hindustan-Tibet route and the Manali-Sarchu road on the Manali-Leh axis, is based in Shimla. Some of the Sarchu-Leh roadway, which is currently under Project Himank, is expected to be acquired by Project Yojak.

BRO plans to build a museum on the site of the Atal Tunnel. It will show how the tunnel was constructed, what machines were utilised, and what obstacles the engineers and workers encountered. Tourists who tour the tunnel will also be able to see the museum, which will begin building soon.

The recently enlarged Manali-Atal tunnel roadway is experiencing frequent traffic bottlenecks due to a large number of tourists visiting the Atal tunnel every day. Concerned about the need for a broader road, BRO plans to construct an optional road to relieve traffic congestion. The state government would help build a bypass double-lane road from Manali's side past Nehru Kund to the Atal tunnel, according to the chief engineer. He said that construction on this route will begin as soon as all of the requirements are completed.

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