Image Credits - Indian Defence News
A modern remotely operated avalanche warning and monitoring system at Zoji La is being installed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) as a major step towards guaranteeing the safety of road users along the Srinagar-Leh national highway. Zoji La, the second-highest pass on this crucial route, closes in the winter owing to avalanche activity, therefore early avalanche detection and monitoring systems must be put in place.
The ground-breaking technology, created by DRDO, will consist of a network of infrasonic sensors that can identify stress vibrations or sound waves below human hearing thresholds. These sensors will be positioned carefully along the Sonamarg–Zojila–Tangdhar axis, an area where avalanches can occur at any time. The principal objective is to augment the security of military personnel and civilians traversing this demanding terrain.
According to a DRDO scientist, “The network will be deployed along the treacherous terrain of Zoji La to detect and monitor avalanche activities, providing crucial information to mitigate potential risks.” The Chandigarh-based Defence Geo-informatics Research Establishment (DGRE) will carry out the project. The goal of the DRDO laboratory DGRE is to develop crucial technologies for combat effectiveness, with an emphasis on problems linked to topography and avalanches in the Himalayas.
In order to ensure sustainability, the sensors will be positioned strategically in predetermined field sites and outfitted with solar power units, real-time data transmitting modules compatible with satellite and GSM connection, and data acquisition and processing units. The DGRE will receive the gathered data and analyse it to produce useful knowledge that can improve safety procedures.
Zoji La, in the Kargil district, is 11,575 feet high and aptly named the “pass of blizzards.” Strategically significant, it is located on the main road connecting Jammu to Ladakh. The route is impassable in the winter due to severe snowfall, which highlights the need for the 14-kilometer tunnel that is currently being built underground. By 2030, when this tunnel is completed, it will be the longest bidirectional tunnel in Asia and cut the average journey time from three hours to just 20 minutes.
Ensuring the safe mobility of troops in difficult terrains is greatly dependent on the DGRE, which is in charge of mapping, forecasting, monitoring, controlling, and mitigating landslides and avalanches in the Himalayas. Other government departments also use the data produced by DGRE to make sure that residents in remote places are secure, in addition to the military.
