S-1 Strategic Highway

On other parts of the highway it is bordered by a cliff drop of hundreds of meters unprotected by guardrails.

Though very dangerous, the Skardu Road is important for the defence of the country, being a supply route for border regions including Kargil, Siachen, Batalik and Chorbat.

Pakistan Army’s soldiers man these border areas round the clock, throughout the year.

Its prolonged blockade inevitably leads to shortage of basic necessities of life in the region.

Consequently, a large number of vehicles, with passengers and goods, used to fall off the road into the Indus River flowing down below.

However, the road project has been completed without tunnels and alignments which were initially part of the upgrade plan designed by the Frontier Works Organisation (FWO).