The 434 km National Highway 1D, which connects Srinagar with Leh and is the only road that connects Ladakh with the Kashmir valley, was reopened on May 1.
Ladakh, comprising Leh and Kargil districts, remains cut off from rest of the country for nearly six months as the Srinagar-Leh highway is closed from November to May every year due to heavy snowfall at Zojila Pass and adjacent areas.
The only other road to Ladakh, the Leh-Manali highway, too remains buried under snow through most of the year.
The Zojila Pass, which is at an altitude of 3,505 metres above sea level, is the gateway from lush Kashmir to the cold desert region of Ladakh, which, geographically, is part of the Tibetan plateau.
Besides the Zojila, two other mountain passes on the Srinagar-Leh highway are the Namikala (3,719 m) and the Fotula (4,094 m).
The picturesque highway is of immense strategic importance, and it was on the peaks along this highway that the Kargil war was mostly fought.
Image : A vehicle moves through the Zojila Pass
Text: Rediff News Bureau with inputs from PTI
Photograph: Irshad Khan/AFP/Getty Images
Also see: When Kashmir's lifeline shuts down
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