Additional avalanche defense works with a total length of more than 5.5 kilometers will be built along the highway connecting Dushanbe and Khujand, the capital of the Tajik northern Sughd province. 

Large areas in the mountain regions of Tajikistan, including the Dushanbe-Khujand highway, are endangered by avalanches.  Mountains cover 93 percent of Tajikistan, and avalanches and mudslides kill dozens of people every year.

According to official data, at least ten people were killed by avalanches that his some places of the Dushanbe-Khujand highway in Varzob district in late January this year.

A special commission has been set up to study the issue of constructing additional avalanche galleries along the Dushanbe-Khujand highway.

Allouddin Anoyatshoyev, the head of the Road Building Department at the Ministry of Transport, says the most dangerous place is from the Maikhoura area to the Anzob Tunnel.

“Additional avalanche galleries with a total length of more than 5.5 kilometers are expected to be built on this section of the highway, from the 60th to the 72nd kilometer,” Anoyatshoyev said.        

An avalanche gallery, snow shed or snow bridge is a type of rigid snow-supporting structure for avalanche control (avalanche defense) or to maintain passage in areas where snow removal becomes almost impossible. They can be made of steel, prestressed concrete frames, or timber.  These structures can be fully enclosed, like an artificial tunnel, or consist of lattice-like elements.  They are typically of robust construction considering the environments they must survive in.