National Highway 3 (India)


National Highway 3, or NH 3, is a national highway in India. It starts from Atari adjacent to India-Pakistan border and near Amritsar and terminates at Leh in Ladakh, via Manali in Himachal Pradesh.

History

After renumbering of all national highways by National Highway Authority of India in 2010, parts of the former NH 1 and NH 70 have been combined with parts of former NH 21 to create the new NH 3.
Part of national Highway 3 runs through the upper reaches of Himachal Pradesh and Ladakh, crossing some high elevation mountain passes. First major pass comes after Manali, which is Rohtang pass at an elevation of 3,978 m. Rohtang pass provides connectivity between the Kullu valley and the Lahaul and Spiti valleys of Himachal Pradesh. Next major pass on NH3 is Baralacha La at an elevation of 4,890 m in Zanskar range. In Leh district, NH 3 crosses over Nakee La, Lachulung La and Taglang La.

Route

National Highway 3 route runs through three states.
;Punjab
Attari, Amritsar, Jalandhar, Hoshiarpur - H.P. border.
;Himachal Pradesh
Punjab border - Nadaun, Hamirpur, Toni Devi, Awa Devi, Mandi, Kullu, Manali, Gramphoo, Kyelong - J & K border.
;Ladakh
H.P border - Leh.

Construction and upgradation

Process for upgrading of road from two to four lanes on Jalandhar to Hoshiarpur section was started by NHAI to improve connectivity. Traffic congestion is encountered at Adampur and Rama Mandi on this 58 km stretch. 39.4 km of this project is assigned to the public works department, Punjab.

Junctions list

Interactive map