Sach Pass is a mountain pass in Chamba District,

Himachal Pradesh Himachal Pradesh (; ; "Snow-laden Mountain Province") is a state in the northern part of India. Situated in the Western Himalayas, it is one of the thirteen mountain states and is characterized by an extreme landscape featuring several peak ...

, India on the

Pir Panjal The Pir Panjal Range (Kashmiri: ) is a group of mountains in the Lesser Himalayan region, running from east-southeast (ESE) to west-northwest (WNW) across the Indian territories of Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir and then Pakistan's A ...

range of the

Himalayas The Himalayas, or Himalaya (; ; ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the planet's highest peaks, including the very highest, Mount Everest. Over ...

. Himachal Touris

. ''Himachal Tourism''. Accessed 6 December 2019. It is from the District Headquarters. It connects the

Chamba valley Chamba may refer to: People *Gilberto Chamba (born 1961), Ecuadorian serial killer *Jessica Chamba (born 1981), European activist Places Ghana *Chamba, a town in the Northern Region India *Chamba (Vidhan Sabha constituency), Himachal Pradesh * C ...

with the Pangi valleys of

, India. There is a

helipad A helipad is a landing area or platform for helicopters and powered lift aircraft. While helicopters and powered lift aircraft are able to operate on a variety of relatively flat surfaces, a fabricated helipad provides a clearly marked hard ...

on the ascent towards Sach pass from Bairagarh of Himachal Pradesh.

Overview

The pass is open from June or early JulyReport of pass opening 11 July in 2012
/ref> to mid October. The road is narrow and unmetalled. It is the gateway to the Pangi Valley. It is the shortest and toughest route from Chamba to the Killar (170 km) and was newly constructed. Pangi is also accessible all the year round from Paddar valley (Jammu & Kashmir) but it is a longer route as one has to take the Chamba to Baderwah or Udhampur road in Jammu &Kashmir.

History

1998 Chamba massacre also took place at Satrundi & Kalaban when 35 Hindus and some buddhist, mostly labourers, were shot down by terrorists, and 11 were injured. They were working on the Saach Pass road. There was a lack of security but now whole area is under surveillance and is now getting more popular among trekkers and tourists.

Importance

It is the shortest route to Killar. With the completion of this road (Sach Pass) the distance from

Pathankot Pathankot is a city and the district headquarters of the Pathankot district in Punjab, India. Pathankot is the 6th most populous city of Punjab, after Ludhiana, Amritsar, Jalandhar, Patiala and Bathinda. Its local government is a municipa ...

to Leh via Saach pass has been reduced to 670 km while the distance from Pathankot to Leh via Manali is . So this road can be used by Indian Army.

Distances

Sach pass can be reached from three directions, via Pathankot-Dalhousie road, Manali-Udaipur road, and Udhampur/Anantnag-Kishtwar- Paddar- Pangi road. The first is the shortest, more treacherous, and most popular route, given that the other routes are very long in comparison. The distance of Sach Pass from a few major places on all three routes are below.

Gallery

File:Snow wall on the way to saach pass.jpg, Snow walls on side of road File:Glaciers at Satrundi.jpg, A glacier at Satrundi File:Snow at saach pass.jpg, Road clearing machinery at the top of Saach Pass File:Mata mandir.jpg, A temple at the Saach Pass File:Snow caped mountains at dalhousie.jpg, View from Saach Pass

References

External links

Sach Pass Scooter Ride travelogue

Free Souls Rider Sach Pass Ride

Best time to visit Sach Pass
{{Mountain passes of India Mountain passes of the Himalayas Mountain passes of Himachal Pradesh Geography of Chamba district