Who decides when the Ladakh highways open: how BRO snow clearance works

Every spring the same question fills riding groups. When does the Manali to Leh highway open? The honest answer is that nobody can tell you in advance, because the date is decided by snow, not by a calendar. The road opens when two Border Roads Organisation teams working from opposite ends meet in the middle and declare the route clear. Tourist traffic follows later, once the civil administration and police allow it.

That is why the two main approaches to Leh never open together. The Srinagar side, over Zoji La, usually comes first. The Manali side takes longer because it carries far more snow at far greater height.

Two teams, one handshake at Sarchu

The 427 km Leh to Manali highway is split between two BRO projects. Project Deepak clears from Manali up to Sarchu, and Project Himank clears from Leh down to Sarchu. When they meet at Sarchu, on the Ladakh and Himachal boundary, BRO holds a Golden Handshake ceremony and declares the road snow free. In 2023 that happened on 25 March, after a clearance effort BRO called a record 138 days, with officers declaring the highway clear on the spot.

The teams have to cut through four passes, and their altitudes explain the delay: Tanglang La at 17,482 ft, Lachung La at 16,616 ft, Baralacha La at 15,910 ft and Nakee La at 15,547 ft. Snow walls at these points were reported at 10 to 15 feet.

In 2026, Construction World reported on 20 May that BRO had reopened the Manali to Leh national highway after a 42 day clearance operation that also involved removing landslide debris, repairing damaged sections and safety inspections before regulated traffic was allowed. That last phrase matters for trip planning. The road being cleared is not the same as the road being open to you.

Why Zoji La now behaves differently

Zoji La sits at 11,500 ft, which is low by Ladakh standards, and BRO has been pushing to keep it open through winter rather than reopen it in spring. Project Beacon maintains the Sonamarg to Zero Point side and Project Vijayak works from the Drass side. In January 2026 BRO said it had intensified clearance at Zoji La to support the Army's winter readiness, with Project Himank also involved.

In the 2025 to 2026 winter the pass stayed open into mid January, with Greater Kashmir reporting it running past 13 January 2026 against a closure of only 30 days the previous season. Crews work in temperatures down to minus 20 degrees Celsius, with blizzards and avalanche risk. The 14.5 km Zojila tunnel, when it is done, is expected to cut a crossing of more than three hours to roughly a quarter of an hour.

The 2025 cycle shows how fast this now moves. Snowfall from a Western Disturbance shut the pass for 17 days from 27 February to 16 March. BRO cleared it in 14 days, and the Director General flagged off the first convoy from Srinagar towards Ladakh on 1 April.

What this means for your trip

Plan the Srinagar to Leh leg from April and the Manali to Leh leg from June if you want margin. Do not build a ride around a pass opening date you read on a travel blog in February.

Second, treat official road status pages with care. The District Lahaul and Spiti road status page lists Delhi to Manali, Manali to Keylong, Keylong to Kaza and Keylong to Leh as open or closed, but when we checked it the page was last updated 14.05.2024. Police traffic advisories and the Ladakh Tourism advisory page are more current.

Third, an open road is not a safe road for an unacclimatised body. Ladakh Tourism's advisory asks every tourist arriving in Leh to take at least 48 hours of complete rest before going higher, and gradual ascent of no more than 500 m a day above 3,000 m.

Sources

• Border Roads Organisation opens Zoji La pass after 32 days, The Tribune
• BRO opens Leh-Manali Highway in a record 138 days, ThePrint
• BRO reopens Manali-Leh National Highway after 42-day clear up, Construction World
• Zojila Pass defies winter closure this season, Greater Kashmir
• BRO intensifies snow clearance operations at Zoji La, IANS via Prokerala
• Road Status, District Lahaul and Spiti administration
• Travel advisories, Directorate of Tourism, UT Ladakh