CHANDIGARH, April 26: Several measures devised by the Snow and Avalanche Studies Establishment (SASE) to control avalanches on major mountainous highways have proved to be successful.Highlighting the achievements of SASE, established by the Defence Research and Development Establishment in 1969, Director Maj Gen S.S. Sharma said that a "snow gallery", one of the most effective avalanche control structures has been designed for the Jammu-Srinagar Highway (NH 1-A). Avalanche debris, after being confined to a narrow track are allowed to pass over a shed, leaving the road safe for continuous vehicular traffic as well as preventing snow drift activity. He said that about 3,500 vehicles use NH 1-A every day and road blocks due to avalanches lead to heavy loss of manhours.The 360-meter long gallery would cost about Rs 26 crore and save the area around the Shaitani Nullah from avalanches which occur frequently in that area.Another devise called "Sprengbahn", through which avalanches can be brought down in a controlled manner with the use of explosives, was tested successfully in February on the avalanche site near Jawahar tunnel on the NH. Shock waves generated by controlled quantities of explovies create an air cushion over the snow surface, releasing small avalanches which are harmless.Artificial triggering of avalanches by the use of mortars and artillery guns, as is widely practised in North America, has also been extensively tried by SASE. Maj Gen Sharma said that a Mountain Meteorological Centre is also being set up, which would help provide avalanche warning and accurate weather forecasts for troops to plan mountain operations. Experts from the Army, SASE and India Meteorology Department would be involved in the project, the first of its kind in the world. This centre, he added, would provide 72 hour, 48 hour, 24 hour as well as six hourly warnings, enabling the Army to plan operations accordingly. The preparation work of the project has already started.As many as 16 AWS, including three in Siachen, have been installed in high altitude areas, which send data directly to SASE centre via satellite link on an hourly basis. Besides 22 observatories, including eight special snow observatories in Jammu and Kashmir, nine in Siachen and four in Himachal Pradesh, have been established for avalanche forecasting. Another project, to utilise remote sensing techniques to monitor and estimate various parameters for avalanche forecasting and control is also on the anvil.
